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

• Published in: Nature communications 2019-04, Vol.10 (1), p.1767-12, Article 1767
• Main Authors: Lax, Simon, Cardona, Cesar, Zhao, Dan, Winton, Valerie J., Goodney, Gabriel, Gao, Peng, Gottel, Neil, Hartmann, Erica M., Henry, Chris, Thomas, Paul M., Kelley, Scott T., Stephens, Brent, Gilbert, Jack A.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: 14/63; 140/58; 45/23; 45/77; 631/326/171/1281; 639/166/986; 692/700/478; Bacteria; Bacteria - genetics; Bacteria - isolation & purification; Bacteria - metabolism; BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES; Beta rays; Biological activity; Building materials; Built environment; Colonization; Construction materials; Construction Materials - microbiology; Drinking water; Environmental conditions; Environmental Monitoring - methods; Fungi; Fungi - genetics; Fungi - isolation & purification; Fungi - metabolism; Gene sequencing; Growth rate; Humanities and Social Sciences; Humidity; Inoculation; Inoculum; Metabolism; Metabolites; Metabolomics; Microbial activity; Microorganisms; multidisciplinary; Phylogeny; RNA, Ribosomal, 16S - isolation & purification; rRNA 16S; Science; Science (multidisciplinary); Urban environments; Viruses - genetics; Viruses - isolation & purification; Viruses - metabolism; Wetting
• ISSN: 2041-1723; 2041-1723
• DOI: 10.1038/s41467-019-09764-z

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. Microbes inhabit built environments and could contribute to degradation of surfaces especially in damp conditions. Here the authors explore how communities of microbes and their metabolites affect four types of built surfaces under varying environmental conditions.