Urban Transit System Microbial Communities Differ by Surface Type and Interaction with Humans and the Environment.
Urban Transit System Microbial Communities Differ by Surface Type and Interaction with Humans and the Environment.
复制标题
DOI：
10.1128/msystems.00018-16
复制
发表时间：
2016-05
期刊：
影响因子：
6.4
通讯作者：
Huttenhower C
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Hsu T;Joice R;Vallarino J;Abu-Ali G;Hartmann EM;Shafquat A;DuLong C;Baranowski C;Gevers D;Green JL;Morgan XC;Spengler JD;Huttenhower C
公共交通环境，特别是城市地铁，是一种独特的微生物环境，具有较高的乘客密度、通勤和营业额，因此与公共卫生特别相关。尽管如此，自2013年以来，只进行了三项与文化无关的地铁研究，所有研究的设计和结论都大相径庭。在这项研究中，我们分析了波士顿地铁系统，该系统每年提供2.38亿次出行，由马萨诸塞州海湾交通管理局（MBTA）监督。这是第一次对公共交通环境中的各种表面、乘客环境和微生物功能（包括潜在致病性测试）进行高精度微生物调查。表征多个运输系统的微生物概况对于抗生素耐药性基因或病原体的生物监测将变得越来越重要，这可以是爆发或卫生事件的早期指标。了解人类接触、材料和环境如何影响微生物分布，最终可能使我们能够合理地设计公共空间，在微生物储存库存在的情况下维持我们的健康。公共交通系统是研究城市微生物组和个体间社区转移的理想选择。在这项研究中，我们使用16S扩增子和鸟枪宏基因组测序来分析波士顿大都市交通系统中火车线路和车站的多个运输表面上的微生物群落。微生物群落结构的最大决定因素是过境表面类型。相比之下，在地理上不同的火车线路和服务于不同人口的车站之间观察到的变化很小。所有表面均以人皮肤和口腔微生物为主，如丙酸杆菌、棒状杆菌、葡萄球菌和链球菌。检测到的分类群与人类无关，包括来自α变形菌的多面手，这在户外触摸屏上特别丰富。鸟枪宏基因组学进一步鉴定了病毒和真核微生物，包括丙酸杆菌噬菌体和球形马拉色菌。功能分析表明，痤疮丙酸杆菌途径，如丙酸盐的生产和卟啉的合成，丰富的列车控股表面（持有），而电子传递链组件有氧呼吸丰富的触摸屏和座位。最后，没有发现过境环境是抗菌素耐药性和毒力基因的储存库。我们的研究结果表明，过境表面上的微生物群落是从人类皮肤的微生物和环境通才的集合种群中维持的，富集对应于与人体和环境暴露的局部相互作用。重要性公共交通环境，特别是城市地铁，是独特的微生物环境，具有较高的乘客密度，通勤和营业额，因此它们与公共卫生特别相关。尽管如此，自2013年以来，只进行了三项与文化无关的地铁研究，所有研究的设计和结论都大相径庭。在这项研究中，我们分析了波士顿地铁系统，该系统每年提供2.38亿次出行，由马萨诸塞州海湾交通管理局（MBTA）监督。这是第一次对公共交通环境中的各种表面、乘客环境和微生物功能（包括潜在致病性测试）进行高精度微生物调查。表征多个运输系统的微生物概况对于抗生素耐药性基因或病原体的生物监测将变得越来越重要，这可以是爆发或卫生事件的早期指标。了解人类接触、材料和环境如何影响微生物分布，最终可能使我们能够合理地设计公共空间，在微生物储存库存在的情况下维持我们的健康。作者视频：本文的作者视频摘要可用。
Mass transit environments, specifically, urban subways, are distinct microbial environments with high occupant densities, diversities, and turnovers, and they are thus especially relevant to public health. Despite this, only three culture-independent subway studies have been performed, all since 2013 and all with widely differing designs and conclusions. In this study, we profiled the Boston subway system, which provides 238 million trips per year overseen by the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA). This yielded the first high-precision microbial survey of a variety of surfaces, ridership environments, and microbiological functions (including tests for potential pathogenicity) in a mass transit environment. Characterizing microbial profiles for multiple transit systems will become increasingly important for biosurveillance of antibiotic resistance genes or pathogens, which can be early indicators for outbreak or sanitation events. Understanding how human contact, materials, and the environment affect microbial profiles may eventually allow us to rationally design public spaces to sustain our health in the presence of microbial reservoirs. Public transit systems are ideal for studying the urban microbiome and interindividual community transfer. In this study, we used 16S amplicon and shotgun metagenomic sequencing to profile microbial communities on multiple transit surfaces across train lines and stations in the Boston metropolitan transit system. The greatest determinant of microbial community structure was the transit surface type. In contrast, little variation was observed between geographically distinct train lines and stations serving different demographics. All surfaces were dominated by human skin and oral commensals such as Propionibacterium, Corynebacterium, Staphylococcus, and Streptococcus. The detected taxa not associated with humans included generalists from alphaproteobacteria, which were especially abundant on outdoor touchscreens. Shotgun metagenomics further identified viral and eukaryotic microbes, including Propionibacterium phage and Malassezia globosa. Functional profiling showed that Propionibacterium acnes pathways such as propionate production and porphyrin synthesis were enriched on train holding surfaces (holds), while electron transport chain components for aerobic respiration were enriched on touchscreens and seats. Lastly, the transit environment was not found to be a reservoir of antimicrobial resistance and virulence genes. Our results suggest that microbial communities on transit surfaces are maintained from a metapopulation of human skin commensals and environmental generalists, with enrichments corresponding to local interactions with the human body and environmental exposures. IMPORTANCE Mass transit environments, specifically, urban subways, are distinct microbial environments with high occupant densities, diversities, and turnovers, and they are thus especially relevant to public health. Despite this, only three culture-independent subway studies have been performed, all since 2013 and all with widely differing designs and conclusions. In this study, we profiled the Boston subway system, which provides 238 million trips per year overseen by the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA). This yielded the first high-precision microbial survey of a variety of surfaces, ridership environments, and microbiological functions (including tests for potential pathogenicity) in a mass transit environment. Characterizing microbial profiles for multiple transit systems will become increasingly important for biosurveillance of antibiotic resistance genes or pathogens, which can be early indicators for outbreak or sanitation events. Understanding how human contact, materials, and the environment affect microbial profiles may eventually allow us to rationally design public spaces to sustain our health in the presence of microbial reservoirs. Author Video: An author video summary of this article is available.