Residential green space can shape the indoor microbial environment

Area of Science:

• Environmental microbiology
• Indoor air quality
• Human microbiome

Background:

• Limited research exists on how outdoor green space affects indoor microbial communities.
• Understanding this link is crucial for public health and environmental science.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the association between residential green space and indoor microbiota composition.
• To differentiate the impact of various green space types (e.g., high-growing vs. low-growing) on indoor microbial diversity.

Main Methods:

• Collected settled dust from 176 living rooms for 16S and ITS amplicon sequencing.
• Quantified bacterial and fungal loads using qPCR to assess diversity indices (Chao1, Shannon, Simpson).
• Analyzed green space characteristics (total area, height, nature) within 50m and 100m buffers using land-cover and land-use data.

Main Results:

• Significant associations found between indoor microbial diversity and nearby green space.
• Bacterial diversity (Shannon index) positively correlated with residential nature.
• Fungal diversity showed varied associations: positive with high-growing green and inverse with low-growing green.

Conclusions:

• Residential green space significantly shapes indoor microbial diversity.
• The type of green space (high-growing vs. low-growing) differentially impacts bacterial and fungal communities.
• Further research is needed to explore microbial taxa and their health implications.