Bed bugs shape the indoor microbial community composition of infested homes

Madhavi L. Kakumanu, Zachary C. DeVries, Alexis M. Barbarin, Richard G. Santangelo, Coby Schal

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

16 Scopus citations

Abstract

Indoor pests, and the allergens they produce, adversely affect human health. Surprisingly, however, their effects on indoor microbial communities have not been assessed. Bed bug (Cimex lectularius) infestations pose severe challenges in elderly and low-income housing. They void large amounts of liquid feces into the home environment, which might alter the indoor microbial community composition. In this study, using bed bug-infested and uninfested homes, we showed a strong impact of bed bug infestations on the indoor microbial diversity. Floor dust samples were collected from uninfested and bed bug-infested homes and their microbiomes were analyzed before and after heat interventions that eliminated bed bugs. The microbial communities of bed bug-infested homes were radically different from those of uninfested homes, and the bed bug endosymbiont Wolbachia was the major driver of this difference. After bed bugs were eliminated, the microbial community gradually shifted toward the community composition of uninfested homes, strongly implicating bed bugs in shaping the dust-associated environmental microbiome. Further studies are needed to understand the viability of these microbial communities and the potential risks that bed bug-associated microbes and their metabolites pose to human health.

Original languageEnglish
Article number140704
JournalScience of the Total Environment
Volume743
DOIs
StatePublished - Nov 15 2020

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 Elsevier B.V.

Funding

We thank residents of a housing community in Raleigh NC who participated in this study. This study would not have been possible without their support and partnership. Funding for this study was provided by the Blanton J. Whitmire Endowment at North Carolina State University, and grants from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Healthy Homes program (NCHHU0017-13, NCHHU0053-19), the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation (2013-5-35 MBE) and the US National Science Foundation (DEB-1754190). Seed funds from the Center for Human Health and the Environment (CHHE, P30ES025128), funded by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, provided partial support for sequencing. Funding for this study was provided by the Blanton J. Whitmire Endowment at North Carolina State University , and grants from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Healthy Homes program ( NCHHU0017-13 , NCHHU0053-19 ), the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation ( 2013-5-35 MBE ) and the US National Science Foundation ( DEB-1754190 ). Seed funds from the Center for Human Health and the Environment (CHHE, P30ES025128 ), funded by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences , provided partial support for sequencing.

FundersFunder number
Blanton J. Whitmire Endowment
Center for Human Health and the EnvironmentP30ES025128
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Healthy Homes program
US National Science Foundation
National Science Foundation Arctic Social Science ProgramDEB-1754190, 1754190
National Science Foundation Arctic Social Science Program
National Institutes of Health/National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Healthy Homes programNCHHU0053-19, NCHHU0017-13
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Healthy Homes program
Alfred P Sloan Foundation
University of North Carolina and North Carolina State University

    Keywords

    • Bed bug
    • Cimex lectularius
    • Environmental intervention
    • Household dust
    • Indoor microbiome
    • Infestation
    • Microbiota
    • Pest

    ASJC Scopus subject areas

    • Environmental Engineering
    • Environmental Chemistry
    • Waste Management and Disposal
    • Pollution

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