Distribution and comparison of bacterial communities in HVAC systems of two university buildings: Implications for indoor air quality and public health

The installation of HVAC systems in building is meant to enhance indoor air quality as well as increase comfort to occupants. However, HVAC systems have also become a vehicle of contamination of indoor air with potentially pathogenic microorganisms. DNA was extracted from ten HVAC filter dust samples collected from two buildings and subjected to high throughput sequencing analysis to determine the bacterial community structure. Further, the Phylogenetic Investigation of Communities by Reconstruction of Unobserved States (PICRUSt2) software was used to predict the potential functional capabilities of the bacterial communities. Sequencing analysis led to the identification of five major bacterial phyla, including Proteobacteria, Cyanobacteria, Actinobacteria, Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes. At genus level, Mycobacterium, Bacillus, Cupriavidus, Hyphomicrobium and Mesorhizobium were the most dominant. With the exception of the later two bacterial genera, the first three are potential pathogens whose presence in HVAC systems poses a significant public health risk, especially among immunocompromised individuals. Nine pathways associated with antibiotics resistance and bacterial pathogenicity were identified, including polymyxin resistance and peptidoglycan biosynthesis pathways. Further, investigation of the relationship between the detected bacterial meta-communities and predicted potential virulence factors (antibiotic resistance and pathogenic genes) led to the detection of 350 positive associations among 43 core bacteria, 2 pathogenic genes (sitA and uidA) and 14 resistance genes. Overall, the heterogeneous nature of microorganisms found in HVAC systems observed in this study shows that HVAC systems are the origin of airborne infections in indoor environments, and must be periodically cleaned and disinfected to avoid the build-up of pathogens, and the subsequent exposure of human occupants of these pathogens. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10661-020-08823-z.