Ecological succession and viability of human-associated microbiota on restroom surfaces
Abstract
Human-associated bacteria dominate the built environment (BE). Following decontamination of floors, toilet seats, and soap dispensers in four public restrooms, in situ bacterial communities were characterized hourly, daily, and weekly to determine their successional ecology. The viability of cultivable bacteria, following the removal of dispersal agents (humans), was also assessed hourly. A late-successional community developed within 5 to 8 h on restroom floors and showed remarkable stability over weeks to months. Despite late-successional dominance by skin- and outdoor-associated bacteria, the most ubiquitous organisms were predominantly gut-associated taxa, which persisted following exclusion of humans. Staphylococcus represented the majority of the cultivable community, even after several hours of human exclusion. Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA)-associated virulence genes were found on floors but were not present in assembled Staphylococcus pan-genomes. Viral abundances, which were predominantly enterophages, human papilloma virus, and herpesviruses, were significantly correlated with bacterial abundances and showed an unexpectedly low virus-to-bacterium ratio in surface-associated samples, suggesting that bacterial hosts are mostly dormant on BE surfaces.
- Authors:
-
- University of Chicago, Chicago, IL (United States). Graduate Program in Biophysical Sciences; Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States). Institute for Genomic and Systems Biology.
- San Diego State University, San Diego, CA (United States). Department of Biology.
- Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States). Institute for Genomic and Systems Biology.
- Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States); University of Chicago, Chicago, IL (United States). Department of Ecology and Evolution; Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole, MA (United States); College of Environmental and Resource Sciences; Zhejiang University, Hangzhou (China)
- Publication Date:
- Research Org.:
- Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)
- Sponsoring Org.:
- USDOE
- OSTI Identifier:
- 1214581
- Grant/Contract Number:
- AC02-06CH11357
- Resource Type:
- Accepted Manuscript
- Journal Name:
- Applied and Environmental Microbiology
- Additional Journal Information:
- Journal Volume: 81; Journal Issue: 2; Journal ID: ISSN 0099-2240
- Publisher:
- American Society for Microbiology
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
- Subject:
- 59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
Citation Formats
Gibbons, Sean M., Schwartz, Tara, Fouquier, Jennifer, Mitchell, Michelle, Sangwan, Naseer, Gilbert, Jack A., Kelley, Scott T., and Elkins, C. A. Ecological succession and viability of human-associated microbiota on restroom surfaces. United States: N. p., 2014.
Web. doi:10.1128/AEM.03117-14.
Gibbons, Sean M., Schwartz, Tara, Fouquier, Jennifer, Mitchell, Michelle, Sangwan, Naseer, Gilbert, Jack A., Kelley, Scott T., & Elkins, C. A. Ecological succession and viability of human-associated microbiota on restroom surfaces. United States. https://doi.org/10.1128/AEM.03117-14
Gibbons, Sean M., Schwartz, Tara, Fouquier, Jennifer, Mitchell, Michelle, Sangwan, Naseer, Gilbert, Jack A., Kelley, Scott T., and Elkins, C. A. Fri .
"Ecological succession and viability of human-associated microbiota on restroom surfaces". United States. https://doi.org/10.1128/AEM.03117-14. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1214581.
@article{osti_1214581,
title = {Ecological succession and viability of human-associated microbiota on restroom surfaces},
author = {Gibbons, Sean M. and Schwartz, Tara and Fouquier, Jennifer and Mitchell, Michelle and Sangwan, Naseer and Gilbert, Jack A. and Kelley, Scott T. and Elkins, C. A.},
abstractNote = {Human-associated bacteria dominate the built environment (BE). Following decontamination of floors, toilet seats, and soap dispensers in four public restrooms, in situ bacterial communities were characterized hourly, daily, and weekly to determine their successional ecology. The viability of cultivable bacteria, following the removal of dispersal agents (humans), was also assessed hourly. A late-successional community developed within 5 to 8 h on restroom floors and showed remarkable stability over weeks to months. Despite late-successional dominance by skin- and outdoor-associated bacteria, the most ubiquitous organisms were predominantly gut-associated taxa, which persisted following exclusion of humans. Staphylococcus represented the majority of the cultivable community, even after several hours of human exclusion. Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA)-associated virulence genes were found on floors but were not present in assembled Staphylococcus pan-genomes. Viral abundances, which were predominantly enterophages, human papilloma virus, and herpesviruses, were significantly correlated with bacterial abundances and showed an unexpectedly low virus-to-bacterium ratio in surface-associated samples, suggesting that bacterial hosts are mostly dormant on BE surfaces.},
doi = {10.1128/AEM.03117-14},
journal = {Applied and Environmental Microbiology},
number = 2,
volume = 81,
place = {United States},
year = {Fri Nov 14 00:00:00 EST 2014},
month = {Fri Nov 14 00:00:00 EST 2014}
}
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Figures / Tables:
FIG 1: (A) Samples were collected from three surfaces in both female and male restrooms at San Diego State University. The surfaces analyzed were the toilet seat, the floor in front of the toilet, and the soap dispenser pump. Epifluorescence microscopy confirmed that bacteria and virus-like particles (VLPs) are presentmore »
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