What's lurking in your sink drain? - Understanding microbial community dynamics in communal sink drains.

人们比以往任何时候都更有兴趣研究建筑环境中的微生物，这是因为发达国家的人们大约90%的时间都在建筑中度过。最近的证据表明，我们一生中遇到的大多数微生物都是那些占据建筑环境的微生物。由于室内生活方式的增加趋势，以及室内微生物可能对人类健康发挥的重要作用，我们必须对建筑环境中形成微生物群落的因素有更深入的了解。尽管人们对建筑物中微生物群落的兴趣和知识越来越多，但人们对占据水槽排水管和管道的微生物知之甚少，特别是那些在公共或公共区域的微生物。这可能是由于人们普遍认为水槽构成了废物的单向运输，即进入水槽排水管和管道的东西不能“爬”出来。最近的一项研究由监督团队的合作者,然而,表明微生物生长不仅可以从沉管的底部到顶部以惊人的速度流失的每天一寸,他们已经表明,细菌,达到排水的顶部,可以分散的水槽和旅行到一米的自来水从水龙头的物理机械的作用[4]。虽然许多研究表明，水槽是人类病原体生长和交换抗微生物耐药性等基因的理想环境，但迄今为止，确定预防措施一直具有挑战性。令人不安的是，在医院里，使用漂白剂，甚至更换管道，对微生物群和抗性基因的长期影响微乎其微，它们可以在几天内重新生长和定居。这在公共区域的水槽如何在传播病原体和抗性基因方面发挥作用方面具有重要意义。在这个项目中，我们将解决生态和汇微生物群进化方面的重大知识空白，以及它如何受到汇使用/实践的影响，主要目的是研究群落和物种的恢复力和持久性。更具体地说，我们将(1)在临床和非临床环境中描述公共水槽排水管和管道中的微生物群落；(2)评估驱动其群落动态的生态和进化过程和因素；(3)以及水池的使用/做法对社区复原力的影响（例如在社区使用抗菌皂、清洁剂）。我们将利用各种技术，包括基于培养的方法和使用现代高通量DNA测序来表征微生物群落，包括短测序和长测序技术。我们还将进行各种操纵研究，以了解水槽排水微生物群落在一系列不同环境条件下的变化，目的是确定预防措施。[10] [j] .中国科学院学报。分析的。环绕。流行病学杂志，11,p231[2] Dunn et al . (2013), PLoS One, 8(5): e64133[3] Flores et al . (2011), PLoS One, 6(11):e28132 bbb Kotay et al .(2017)，苹果。Environ.Microbiol。， 83:8[5] Brooks等（2017），Nat. Comm., 8:1814

There is greater interest than ever in studying microorganisms in the built environment motivated by the fact that people in the developed world spend approximately 90% of their times in buildings [1]. Recent evidence suggests that the majority of microorganisms that we come across in our lifetime are those that occupy the built environment [2]. Due to the increasing trend towards an indoor lifestyle, and the significant roles the indoor microorganisms may play on human health, it is imperative that we develop a greater understanding of the factors that shape microbial communities in the built environment. Despite the interest and increasing amount of knowledge being acquired in microbial communities in buildings [3], very little is known about microorganisms that occupy sink drains and pipes, especially those in communal or public areas. This is possibly due to the general perception that sinks constitute a one-way traffic of waste, i.e. what goes into sink drains and pipes cannot "crawl" back out. A recent study conducted by collaborators of the supervisory team has, however, shown that not only can microorganisms grow out from the bottom of a sink pipe to the top of a drain at an alarming rate of one inch per day, they have shown that bacteria, having reached the top of the drain, can be dispersed out of the sink and travel up to a metre by the physical mechanistic action of the running water from the tap [4]. While a number of studies have suggested that sinks are an ideal niche for human pathogens to grow and exchange genes such as antimicrobial resistance [5], it has been challenging to identify preventative measures so far. Disturbingly, in hospitals the use of bleach or even replacing the plumbing has been shown to have minimal long term effects on the microbiome and resistance genes, which can regrow and colonise within days. This has significant implications in terms of how sinks in communal areas may play a role in disseminating pathogens and resistance genes.In this project, we will address significant knowledge gaps in the ecology and evolution of sink microbiome, and how it is influenced by sink usage/practice with a key aim to study the resilience and persistence of the communities and species. More specifically we will (1) characterise microbial communities in communal sink drains and pipes in both clinical and non-clinical settings; (2) evaluate the ecological and evolutionary processes and factors that drive their community dynamics; (3) and the effect sink usage/practices have on resilience of the community (e.g. the use of antibacterial soap, cleaning agents on the community). We will leverage various techniques including culture-based methods and the use of modern high-throughput DNA sequencing for characterisation of microbial communities including both short and long sequencing technologies. We will also undertake various manipulated studies to understand how the sink drain microbial community shifts under a set of varying environmental conditions, with the aim of identifying preventative measures. [1] Klepeis et al (2001), J. Expo. Anal. Environ. Epidemiol, 11, p231[2] Dunn et al (2013), PLoS One, 8(5): e64133[3] Flores et al (2011), PLoS One, 6(11):e28132[4] Kotay et al (2017), Appl. Environ.Microbiol., 83:8[5] Brooks et al (2017), Nat. Comm., 8:1814