Humans differ in their personal microbial cloud.
Humans differ in their personal microbial cloud.
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作者：
Meadow JF;Altrichter AE;Bateman AC;Stenson J;Brown GZ;Green JL;Bohannan BJ
人类与建筑环境之间的微生物传播可通过直接接触表面或通过空气传播；后一种机制仍然知之甚少。人类每小时释放106个以上的生物颗粒，并且长期以来一直被认为会将病原体传播给其他人和室内表面。然而，以前并没有证据表明人类会向周围的室内空气中排放可检测到的微生物云，也没有证据表明这些云是否能够充分区分以识别个体居住者。我们使用16S rRNA基因的高通量测序来表征坐在消毒的定制实验气候室中的单个人对空气中细菌的贡献。我们将其与相邻的、相同的、空腔中采样的空气以及供气和排气源进行了比较。此外，我们评估了每个居住者周围沉降颗粒中的微生物群落，以调查空气中微生物排放的潜在长期命运。在1.5-4小时内，可以通过空气中的细菌排放以及它们对沉降颗粒的贡献清楚地检测到大多数居住者。来自居住者的细菌云在统计上是不同的，从而可以识别出一些单独的居住者。我们的研究结果证实，一个被占用的空间与一个未被占用的空间在微生物上是不同的，并首次证明了个体释放自己的个性化微生物云。
Dispersal of microbes between humans and the built environment can occur through direct contact with surfaces or through airborne release; the latter mechanism remains poorly understood. Humans emit upwards of 106 biological particles per hour, and have long been known to transmit pathogens to other individuals and to indoor surfaces. However it has not previously been demonstrated that humans emit a detectible microbial cloud into surrounding indoor air, nor whether such clouds are sufficiently differentiated to allow the identification of individual occupants. We used high-throughput sequencing of 16S rRNA genes to characterize the airborne bacterial contribution of a single person sitting in a sanitized custom experimental climate chamber. We compared that to air sampled in an adjacent, identical, unoccupied chamber, as well as to supply and exhaust air sources. Additionally, we assessed microbial communities in settled particles surrounding each occupant, to investigate the potential long-term fate of airborne microbial emissions. Most occupants could be clearly detected by their airborne bacterial emissions, as well as their contribution to settled particles, within 1.5–4 h. Bacterial clouds from the occupants were statistically distinct, allowing the identification of some individual occupants. Our results confirm that an occupied space is microbially distinct from an unoccupied one, and demonstrate for the first time that individuals release their own personalized microbial cloud.