New papers on microbiology of the built environment , July 2 , 2016

Public transit systems are ideal for studying the urban microbiome and interindividual community transfer. In this study, we used 16S amplicon and shotgun metagenomic sequencing to profile microbial communities on multiple transit surfaces across train lines and stations in the Boston metropolitan transit system. The greatest determinant of microbial community structure was the transit surface type. In contrast, little variation was observed between geographically distinct train lines and stations serving different demographics. (...). Our results suggest that microbial communities on transit surfaces are maintained from a metapopulation of human skin commensals and environmental generalists, with enrichments corresponding to local interactions with the human body and environmental exposures.