Molecular bacterial diversity and bioburden of commercial airliner cabin air.
Culture-independent, biomarker-targeted bacterial enumeration and identification strategies were employed to estimate total bacterial burden and diversity within the cabin air of commercial airliners. Samples from each of 4 flights on 2 commercial carriers were collected via air-impingement. The total viable microbial population ranged from below detection limits to 4.1 x 10(6) cells/m(3) of air, as assessed by the ATP assay. A gradual accumulation of microbes was observed from the time of passenger boarding through mid-flight, followed by a sharp decline in bacterial abundance and viability from the initiation of descent through landing. Representatives of the alpha-, beta-, and gamma-Proteobacteria, as well as Gram-positive bacteria, were isolated in varying abundance. Neisseria meningitidis rRNA gene sequences were retrieved in great abundance from Airline A followed by Streptococcus oralis/mitis sequences. Pseudomonas synxantha sequences dominated Airline B clone libraries, followed by those of N. meningitidis and S. oralis/mitis. The cabin air samples examined herein housed low bacterial diversity and were often dominated by a particular subset of bacteria: opportunistic pathogenic inhabitants of the human respiratory tract and oral cavity.
La Duc
Myron T
MT
Biotechnology and Planetary Protection Group, M/S 89, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, 4800 Oak Grove Drive, Pasadena, CA 91109, USA.
Stuecker
Tara
T
Venkateswaran
Kasthuri
K
D000255:Adenosine Triphosphate / Q000032:analysis; D000391:Air Microbiology; D000393:Air Pollutants / Q000032:analysis; D016902:Air Pollution, Indoor / Q000032:analysis*; D000401:Aircraft; D001419:Bacteria / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics*; D044822:Biodiversity; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D006801:Humans; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S / Q000032:analysis / Q000235:genetics
D000393:Air Pollutants; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S; D000255:Adenosine Triphosphate