Unveiling the airborne microbial menace: Novel insights into pathogenic bacteria and fungi in bioaerosols from nursery schools to universities

Abstract

Bacterial and fungal aerosol pollution is widespread in indoor school environments, and poses potential health risks to students and staff. Understanding the distribution and diversity of microbial communities within aerosols is crucial to mitigate their adverse effects. Existing knowledge regarding the composition of bacterial and fungal aerosols, particularly the presence of potential pathogenic microorganisms in fine particulate matter (PM_2.5) from nursery schools to universities, is limited. To bridge this knowledge gap, in the present study, we collected PM_2.5 samples from five types of schools (i.e., nursery schools, primary schools, junior schools, and high schools and universities) in China. We used advanced single-molecule real-time sequencing to analyze the species-level diversity of bacterial and fungal components in PM_2.5 samples based on 16S and ITS ribosomal genes, respectively. We found significant differences in microbial diversity and community composition among the samples obtained from different educational institutions and pollution levels. In particularly, junior schools exhibited higher PM_2.5 concentrations (62.2-86.6 μg/m³) than other schools (14.4-48.4 μg/m³). Moreover, microbial variations in PM_2.5 samples were associated with institution type. Notably, the prevailing pathogenic microorganisms included Staphylococcus aureus, Staphylococcus epidermidis, Staphylococcus haemolyticus, Streptococcus pneumoniae, and Schizophyllum commune, all of which were identified as Class II Pathogenic Microorganisms in school settings. Four potentially novel strains of S. commune were identified in PM_2.5 samples collected from the university; the four strains showed 92.4 %-94.1 % ITS sequence similarity to known Schizophyllum isolates. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to explore bacterial and fungal diversity within PM_2.5 samples from nursery schools to universities. Overall, these findings contribute to the existing knowledge of school environmental microbiology to ensure the health and safety of students and staff and impacting public health.

Keywords: Bacteria and fungi; Bioaerosols; PM(2.5); School; Single-molecule real-time sequencing.