Skin microbiota interact with microbes on office surfaces

TY - JOUR

T1 - Skin microbiota interact with microbes on office surfaces

AU - Li, Hu

AU - Zhou, Shu-Yi-Dan

AU - Neilson, Roy

AU - An, Xin-Li

AU - Su, Jian-Qiang

N1 - Funding Information: This study was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (41807460, 41977210, 42021005 and U1805244). The James Hutton Institute receives financial support from Scottish Government Rural and Environment Science and Analytical Services (RESAS). Copyright: © 2022 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

PY - 2022/10

Y1 - 2022/10

N2 - The indoor environment is recognized as a potential contributor to human health impacts through resident microbiomes. Indoor surface microbial communities are formed from several sources, environmental and anthropogenic. In this study, we characterized the bacterial and fungal communities from various sources typical of a working office environment including dust, fingers, and computer keyboards and mice. The composition of the dust bacterial community was significantly different from the other tested surfaces (P < 0.05), whereas the dust fungal community was only significantly different from fingers (P < 0.05). Bacterial and fungal communities were both shaped by deterministic processes, and bacterial communities had a higher migration rate. Results of a network analysis showed that the microbial community interactions of keyboards and mice were mainly competitive. Fast expectation-maximization microbial source tracking (FEAST) identified the sources of > 70 % of the keyboard and mouse microbial communities. Biomarkers for each sample types were identified by LDA Effect Size (LEfSE) analysis, some of which were soil-derived and potential anthropogenic pathogens, indicating the potential for exchange of microbes among outdoor, human and indoor surfaces. The current study shows that the source of microorganisms at the office interface is highly traceable and that their migration is linked to human activity. The migration of potentially pathogenic microbes were identified, emphasising the importance of personal hygiene.

AB - The indoor environment is recognized as a potential contributor to human health impacts through resident microbiomes. Indoor surface microbial communities are formed from several sources, environmental and anthropogenic. In this study, we characterized the bacterial and fungal communities from various sources typical of a working office environment including dust, fingers, and computer keyboards and mice. The composition of the dust bacterial community was significantly different from the other tested surfaces (P < 0.05), whereas the dust fungal community was only significantly different from fingers (P < 0.05). Bacterial and fungal communities were both shaped by deterministic processes, and bacterial communities had a higher migration rate. Results of a network analysis showed that the microbial community interactions of keyboards and mice were mainly competitive. Fast expectation-maximization microbial source tracking (FEAST) identified the sources of > 70 % of the keyboard and mouse microbial communities. Biomarkers for each sample types were identified by LDA Effect Size (LEfSE) analysis, some of which were soil-derived and potential anthropogenic pathogens, indicating the potential for exchange of microbes among outdoor, human and indoor surfaces. The current study shows that the source of microorganisms at the office interface is highly traceable and that their migration is linked to human activity. The migration of potentially pathogenic microbes were identified, emphasising the importance of personal hygiene.

KW - Indoor environment

KW - Indoor microbiome

KW - Pathogen

KW - Skin microbiome

KW - Source tracking

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/85137303823

U2 - 10.1016/j.envint.2022.107493

DO - 10.1016/j.envint.2022.107493

M3 - Article

C2 - 36063613

SN - 0160-4120

VL - 168

JO - Environment International

JF - Environment International

M1 - 107493

ER -