title: Biofilms on Hospital Shower Hoses: Characterization and Implications for Nosocomial Infections.
abstract: Although the source of drinking water (DW) used in hospitals is commonly disinfected, biofilms forming on water pipelines are a refuge for bacteria, including possible pathogens that survive different disinfection strategies. These biofilm communities are only beginning to be explored by culture-independent techniques that circumvent the limitations of conventional monitoring efforts. Hence, theories regarding the frequency of opportunistic pathogens in DW biofilms and how biofilm members withstand high doses of disinfectants and/or chlorine residuals in the water supply remain speculative. The aim of this study was to characterize the composition of microbial communities growing on five hospital shower hoses using both 16S rRNA gene sequencing of bacterial isolates and whole-genome shotgun metagenome sequencing. The resulting data revealed a Mycobacterium-like population, closely related to Mycobacterium rhodesiae and Mycobacterium tusciae, to be the predominant taxon in all five samples, and its nearly complete draft genome sequence was recovered. In contrast, the fraction recovered by culture was mostly affiliated with Proteobacteria, including members of the genera Sphingomonas, Blastomonas, and Porphyrobacter.The biofilm community harbored genes related to disinfectant tolerance (2.34% of the total annotated proteins) and a lower abundance of virulence determinants related to colonization and evasion of the host immune system. Additionally, genes potentially conferring resistance to β-lactam, aminoglycoside, amphenicol, and quinolone antibiotics were detected. Collectively, our results underscore the need to understand the microbiome of DW biofilms using metagenomic approaches. This information might lead to more robust management practices that minimize the risks associated with exposure to opportunistic pathogens in hospitals.
authors.affiliation: School of Biology, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.|Center for Bioinformatics and Computational Genomics, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
authors.forename: Maria J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Soto-Giron
authors.affiliation: School of Biology, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.|Center for Bioinformatics and Computational Genomics, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
authors.forename: Luis M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Rodriguez-R
authors.affiliation: Center for Bioinformatics and Computational Genomics, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.|School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
authors.forename: Chengwei
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Luo
authors.affiliation: Pegasus, Inc., Cincinnati, Ohio, USA.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Elk
authors.affiliation: Office of Research and Development, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA.
authors.forename: Hodon
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ryu
authors.affiliation: Office of Research and Development, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA.
authors.forename: Jill
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hoelle
authors.affiliation: Office of Research and Development, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA santodomingo.jorge@epamail.epa.gov kostas@ce.gatech.edu.
authors.forename: Jorge W
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Santo Domingo
authors.affiliation: School of Biology, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia, USA santodomingo.jorge@epamail.epa.gov kostas@ce.gatech.edu.|Center for Bioinformatics and Computational Genomics, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.|School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
authors.forename: Konstantinos T
authors.initials: KT
authors.lastname: Konstantinidis
mesh_terms: D001419:Bacteria / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000472:pathogenicity; D018407:Bacterial Physiological Phenomena; D018441:Biofilms / Q000254:growth & development*; D002713:Chlorine; D003428:Cross Infection / Q000235:genetics* / Q000382:microbiology*; D046508:Culture Techniques; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000032:analysis; D004202:Disinfectants / Q000494:pharmacology; D004203:Disinfection; D024881:Drug Resistance, Bacterial; D016680:Genome, Bacterial; D006761:Hospitals; D054892:Metagenome; D064307:Microbiota / Q000235:genetics; D009161:Mycobacterium / Q000502:physiology; D009820:Ohio; D010802:Phylogeny; D020560:Proteobacteria / Q000502:physiology; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S / Q000235:genetics; D042301:Sphingomonadaceae / Q000502:physiology; D014871:Water Microbiology; D014881:Water Supply
chemical_list: D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D004202:Disinfectants; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S; D002713:Chlorine