Assessing residential activity in a home plumbing system simulator: monitoring the occurrence and relationship of major opportunistic pathogens and phagocytic amoebas
Opportunistic premise plumbing pathogens (OPPPs) have been detected in buildings’ plumbing systems causing waterborne disease outbreaks in the United States. In this study, we monitored the occurrence of OPPPs along with free-living amoeba (FLA) and investigated the effects of residential activities...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Frontiers Media S.A.
2023-10-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Microbiology |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2023.1260460/full |
| _version_ | 1797658901029584896 |
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| author | Vicente Gomez-Alvarez Hodon Ryu Min Tang Morgan McNeely Christy Muhlen Megan Urbanic Daniel Williams Darren Lytle Laura Boczek |
| author_facet | Vicente Gomez-Alvarez Hodon Ryu Min Tang Morgan McNeely Christy Muhlen Megan Urbanic Daniel Williams Darren Lytle Laura Boczek |
| author_sort | Vicente Gomez-Alvarez |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Opportunistic premise plumbing pathogens (OPPPs) have been detected in buildings’ plumbing systems causing waterborne disease outbreaks in the United States. In this study, we monitored the occurrence of OPPPs along with free-living amoeba (FLA) and investigated the effects of residential activities in a simulated home plumbing system (HPS). Water samples were collected from various locations in the HPS and analyzed for three major OPPPs: Legionella pneumophila, nontuberculous mycobacterial species (e.g., Mycobacterium avium, M. intracellulare, and M. abscessus), and Pseudomonas aeruginosa along with two groups of amoebas (Acanthamoeba and Vermamoeba vermiformis). A metagenomic approach was also used to further characterize the microbial communities. Results show that the microbial community is highly diverse with evidence of spatial and temporal structuring influenced by environmental conditions. L. pneumophila was the most prevalent pathogen (86% of samples), followed by M. intracellulare (66%) and P. aeruginosa (21%). Interestingly, M. avium and M. abscessus were not detected in any samples. The data revealed a relatively low prevalence of Acanthamoeba spp. (4%), while V. vermiformis was widely detected (81%) across all the sampling locations within the HPS. Locations with a high concentration of L. pneumophila and M. intracellulare coincided with the highest detection of V. vermiformis, suggesting the potential growth of both populations within FLA and additional protection in drinking water. After a period of stagnation lasting at least 2-weeks, the concentrations of OPPPs and amoeba immediately increased and then decreased gradually back to the baseline. Furthermore, monitoring the microbial population after drainage of the hot water tank and partial drainage of the entire HPS demonstrated no significant mitigation of the selected OPPPs. This study demonstrates that these organisms can adjust to their environment during such events and may survive in biofilms and/or grow within FLA, protecting them from stressors in the supplied water. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-11T18:06:01Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-52bbcc3e7ab04d09ad0b7280041398bb |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1664-302X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-11T18:06:01Z |
| publishDate | 2023-10-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Microbiology |
| spelling | doaj.art-52bbcc3e7ab04d09ad0b7280041398bb2023-10-17T06:56:59ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Microbiology1664-302X2023-10-011410.3389/fmicb.2023.12604601260460Assessing residential activity in a home plumbing system simulator: monitoring the occurrence and relationship of major opportunistic pathogens and phagocytic amoebasVicente Gomez-Alvarez0Hodon Ryu1Min Tang2Morgan McNeely3Christy Muhlen4Megan Urbanic5Daniel Williams6Darren Lytle7Laura Boczek8Office of Research and Development, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Cincinnati, OH, United StatesOffice of Research and Development, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Cincinnati, OH, United StatesOak Ridge for Science and Education Research Fellow at U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Cincinnati, OH, United StatesOffice of Research and Development, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Cincinnati, OH, United StatesOffice of Research and Development, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Cincinnati, OH, United StatesOak Ridge for Science and Education Research Fellow at U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Cincinnati, OH, United StatesOffice of Research and Development, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Cincinnati, OH, United StatesOffice of Research and Development, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Cincinnati, OH, United StatesOffice of Research and Development, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Cincinnati, OH, United StatesOpportunistic premise plumbing pathogens (OPPPs) have been detected in buildings’ plumbing systems causing waterborne disease outbreaks in the United States. In this study, we monitored the occurrence of OPPPs along with free-living amoeba (FLA) and investigated the effects of residential activities in a simulated home plumbing system (HPS). Water samples were collected from various locations in the HPS and analyzed for three major OPPPs: Legionella pneumophila, nontuberculous mycobacterial species (e.g., Mycobacterium avium, M. intracellulare, and M. abscessus), and Pseudomonas aeruginosa along with two groups of amoebas (Acanthamoeba and Vermamoeba vermiformis). A metagenomic approach was also used to further characterize the microbial communities. Results show that the microbial community is highly diverse with evidence of spatial and temporal structuring influenced by environmental conditions. L. pneumophila was the most prevalent pathogen (86% of samples), followed by M. intracellulare (66%) and P. aeruginosa (21%). Interestingly, M. avium and M. abscessus were not detected in any samples. The data revealed a relatively low prevalence of Acanthamoeba spp. (4%), while V. vermiformis was widely detected (81%) across all the sampling locations within the HPS. Locations with a high concentration of L. pneumophila and M. intracellulare coincided with the highest detection of V. vermiformis, suggesting the potential growth of both populations within FLA and additional protection in drinking water. After a period of stagnation lasting at least 2-weeks, the concentrations of OPPPs and amoeba immediately increased and then decreased gradually back to the baseline. Furthermore, monitoring the microbial population after drainage of the hot water tank and partial drainage of the entire HPS demonstrated no significant mitigation of the selected OPPPs. This study demonstrates that these organisms can adjust to their environment during such events and may survive in biofilms and/or grow within FLA, protecting them from stressors in the supplied water.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2023.1260460/fullLegionella pneumophilapremise plumbingmicrobial communitiesopportunistic pathogensfree-living amoeba |
| spellingShingle | Vicente Gomez-Alvarez Hodon Ryu Min Tang Morgan McNeely Christy Muhlen Megan Urbanic Daniel Williams Darren Lytle Laura Boczek Assessing residential activity in a home plumbing system simulator: monitoring the occurrence and relationship of major opportunistic pathogens and phagocytic amoebas Frontiers in Microbiology Legionella pneumophila premise plumbing microbial communities opportunistic pathogens free-living amoeba |
| title | Assessing residential activity in a home plumbing system simulator: monitoring the occurrence and relationship of major opportunistic pathogens and phagocytic amoebas |
| title_full | Assessing residential activity in a home plumbing system simulator: monitoring the occurrence and relationship of major opportunistic pathogens and phagocytic amoebas |
| title_fullStr | Assessing residential activity in a home plumbing system simulator: monitoring the occurrence and relationship of major opportunistic pathogens and phagocytic amoebas |
| title_full_unstemmed | Assessing residential activity in a home plumbing system simulator: monitoring the occurrence and relationship of major opportunistic pathogens and phagocytic amoebas |
| title_short | Assessing residential activity in a home plumbing system simulator: monitoring the occurrence and relationship of major opportunistic pathogens and phagocytic amoebas |
| title_sort | assessing residential activity in a home plumbing system simulator monitoring the occurrence and relationship of major opportunistic pathogens and phagocytic amoebas |
| topic | Legionella pneumophila premise plumbing microbial communities opportunistic pathogens free-living amoeba |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2023.1260460/full |
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