Presence of Archaea in the Indoor Environment and Their Relationships with Housing Characteristics

Sepideh Pakpour, James A. Scott, Stuart E. Turvey, Jeffrey R. Brook, Timothy K. Takaro, Malcolm R. Sears, John Klironomos

Archaea are widespread and abundant in soils, oceans, or human and animal gastrointestinal (GI) tracts. However, very little is known about the presence of Archaea in indoor environments and factors that can regulate their abundances. Using a quantitative PCR approach, and targeting the archaeal and bacterial 16S rRNA genes in floor dust samples, we found that Archaea are a common part of the indoor microbiota, 5.01 ± 0.14 (log 16S rRNA gene copies/g dust, mean ± SE) in bedrooms and 5.58 ± 0.13 in common rooms, such as living rooms. Their abundance, however, was lower than bacteria: 9.20 ± 0.32 and 9.17 ± 0.32 in bedrooms and common rooms, respectively. In addition, by measuring a broad array of environmental factors, we obtained preliminary insights into how the abundance of total archaeal 16S rRNA gene copies in indoor environment would be associated with building characteristics and occupants' activities. Based on the results, Archaea are not equally distributed within houses, and the areas with greater input of outdoor microbiome and higher traffic and material heterogeneity tend to have a higher abundance of Archaea. Nevertheless, more research is needed to better understand causes and consequences of this microbial group in indoor environments.