Urban Transit System Microbial Communities Differ by Surface Type and Interaction with Humans and the Environment
-
- Tiffany Hsu
- Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
-
- Regina Joice
- Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
-
- Jose Vallarino
- Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
-
- Galeb Abu-Ali
- Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
-
- Erica M. Hartmann
- University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon, USA
-
- Afrah Shafquat
- Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
-
- Casey DuLong
- Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
-
- Catherine Baranowski
- Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
-
- Dirk Gevers
- Broad Institute, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA
-
- Jessica L. Green
- University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon, USA
-
- Xochitl C. Morgan
- Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
-
- John D. Spengler
- Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
-
- Curtis Huttenhower
- Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
-
- Rob Knight
- editor
説明
<jats:p>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.</jats:p>
収録刊行物
-
- mSystems
-
mSystems 1 (3), e00018-16-, 2016-06-28
American Society for Microbiology