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Microbial Ecology

Ecological Succession and Viability of Human-Associated Microbiota on Restroom Surfaces

Sean M. Gibbons, Tara Schwartz, Jennifer Fouquier, Michelle Mitchell, Naseer Sangwan, Jack A. Gilbert, Scott T. Kelley
C. A. Elkins, Editor
Sean M. Gibbons
aGraduate Program in Biophysical Sciences, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, USA
bInstitute for Genomic and Systems Biology, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, Illinois, USA
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Tara Schwartz
cDepartment of Biology, San Diego State University, San Diego, California, USA
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Jennifer Fouquier
cDepartment of Biology, San Diego State University, San Diego, California, USA
dGraduate Program in Bioinformatics and Medical Informatics, San Diego State University, San Diego, California, USA
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Michelle Mitchell
cDepartment of Biology, San Diego State University, San Diego, California, USA
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Naseer Sangwan
bInstitute for Genomic and Systems Biology, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, Illinois, USA
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Jack A. Gilbert
bInstitute for Genomic and Systems Biology, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, Illinois, USA
eDepartment of Ecology and Evolution, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, USA
fMarine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole, Massachusetts, USA
gCollege of Environmental and Resource Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China
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Scott T. Kelley
cDepartment of Biology, San Diego State University, San Diego, California, USA
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C. A. Elkins
Roles: Editor
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DOI: 10.1128/AEM.03117-14
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ABSTRACT

Human-associated bacteria dominate the built environment (BE). Following decontamination of floors, toilet seats, and soap dispensers in four public restrooms, in situ bacterial communities were characterized hourly, daily, and weekly to determine their successional ecology. The viability of cultivable bacteria, following the removal of dispersal agents (humans), was also assessed hourly. A late-successional community developed within 5 to 8 h on restroom floors and showed remarkable stability over weeks to months. Despite late-successional dominance by skin- and outdoor-associated bacteria, the most ubiquitous organisms were predominantly gut-associated taxa, which persisted following exclusion of humans. Staphylococcus represented the majority of the cultivable community, even after several hours of human exclusion. Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA)-associated virulence genes were found on floors but were not present in assembled Staphylococcus pan-genomes. Viral abundances, which were predominantly enterophages, human papilloma virus, and herpesviruses, were significantly correlated with bacterial abundances and showed an unexpectedly low virus-to-bacterium ratio in surface-associated samples, suggesting that bacterial hosts are mostly dormant on BE surfaces.

FOOTNOTES

    • Received 22 September 2014.
    • Accepted 10 November 2014.
    • Accepted manuscript posted online 14 November 2014.
  • Supplemental material for this article may be found at http://dx.doi.org/10.1128/AEM.03117-14.

  • Copyright © 2015, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

The authors have paid a fee to allow immediate free access to this article.

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Ecological Succession and Viability of Human-Associated Microbiota on Restroom Surfaces
Sean M. Gibbons, Tara Schwartz, Jennifer Fouquier, Michelle Mitchell, Naseer Sangwan, Jack A. Gilbert, Scott T. Kelley
Applied and Environmental Microbiology Jan 2015, 81 (2) 765-773; DOI: 10.1128/AEM.03117-14

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Ecological Succession and Viability of Human-Associated Microbiota on Restroom Surfaces
Sean M. Gibbons, Tara Schwartz, Jennifer Fouquier, Michelle Mitchell, Naseer Sangwan, Jack A. Gilbert, Scott T. Kelley
Applied and Environmental Microbiology Jan 2015, 81 (2) 765-773; DOI: 10.1128/AEM.03117-14
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