Microbial and metabolic succession on common building materials under high humidity conditions

Simon Lax, Cesar Cardona, Dan Zhao, Valerie J. Winton, Gabriel Goodney, Peng Gao, Neil Gottel, Erica M. Hartmann, Chris Henry, Paul M. Thomas, Scott T. Kelley, Brent Stephens () and Jack A. Gilbert ()
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Simon Lax: The University of Chicago
Cesar Cardona: The University of Chicago
Dan Zhao: Illinois Institute of Technology
Valerie J. Winton: Northwestern University
Gabriel Goodney: San Diego State University
Peng Gao: Northwestern University
Neil Gottel: University of California San Diego
Erica M. Hartmann: Northwestern University
Chris Henry: Argonne National Laboratory
Paul M. Thomas: Northwestern University
Scott T. Kelley: San Diego State University
Brent Stephens: Illinois Institute of Technology
Jack A. Gilbert: University of California San Diego

Nature Communications, 2019, vol. 10, issue 1, 1-12

Abstract: Abstract Despite considerable efforts to characterize the microbial ecology of the built environment, the metabolic mechanisms underpinning microbial colonization and successional dynamics remain unclear, particularly at high moisture conditions. Here, we applied bacterial/viral particle counting, qPCR, amplicon sequencing of the genes encoding 16S and ITS rRNA, and metabolomics to longitudinally characterize the ecological dynamics of four common building materials maintained at high humidity. We varied the natural inoculum provided to each material and wet half of the samples to simulate a potable water leak. Wetted materials had higher growth rates and lower alpha diversity compared to non-wetted materials, and wetting described the majority of the variance in bacterial, fungal, and metabolite structure. Inoculation location was weakly associated with bacterial and fungal beta diversity. Material type influenced bacterial and viral particle abundance and bacterial and metabolic (but not fungal) diversity. Metabolites indicative of microbial activity were identified, and they too differed by material.

Date: 2019
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-019-09764-z

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