MycoIndoor · Deciphering the mycobiome of indoor environments by high-throughput sequencing
Horizon 2020 — Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions
- Duration
- 2018-03-01 → 2020-02-29
- EU contribution
- €208,400
- Participants
- 1
- Scheme
- MSCA-IF-EF-ST
Lines connect the coordinator with its partners.
Results in brief
Deciphering the mycobiome of indoor environments by high-throughput sequencing
The overall assembly of fungi in buildings is often known as the ‘indoor mycobiome’. Dampness- and mould-related indoor air quality problems are relevant health concerns due to their association with allergies, asthma and other respiratory symptoms. Previous studies have stated that geography and climate are the most important determinants of indoor mycobiomes, with the outdoor air as the key source of spores. Other studies indicated that various building and occupancy characteristics were key determinants of the indoor mycobiome. High-throughput sequencing (HTS), and in particular its use in DNA metabarcoding analyses, has lately become a key tool for surveying environmental microbial communities. The majority of existing DNA-based mycobiome studies have focussed on specific building units, at a local scale. However, indoor mycobiomes may show significant differences depending on the regional climatic and environmental conditions, and must therefore be characterised at various scales in different parts of the world. Northern Europe possess a marked climatic gradient that enables to study the effect of regional climatic variability on the indoor mycobiomes. The overarching aim of the MycoIndoor project was to improve the knowledge about the indoor mycobiome in Northern Europe by implementing state-of-the-art molecular approaches, and identify the main determinants of compositional variation in the indoor mycobiome. More specifically, the following three objectives were addressed: (i) to construct a reference DNA sequence database for widespread cultivable indoor fungi in Norway, (ii) to analyse the small-scale spatiotemporal variation in the indoor mycobiome within single buildings, and (iii) to characterise the geographical variation of the indoor mycobiome on a larger scale (Norway) and reveal broad scale environmental drivers for variation in the indoor mycobiome. MycoIndoor project has been a joint effort of the Oslo Mycology Group at the University of Oslo in collaboration with Mycoteam AS. The scientific activities of this project were mainly conducted by the Principal Investigator (PI) Pedro M. Martin Sanchez, from 1st March 2018 to 29th February 2020, under the supervision of Prof. Håvard Kauserud.
Data: CORDIS, © European Union
Project objective
Fungi have ubiquitous distribution in natural ecosystems and are also common in the built environment, where people spend major parts of their lifetime. When moisture is present, fungal growth can cause material deterioration and adverse effects on the occupant’s health. Traditional methods for analyzing the indoor mycobiome, such as culturing and microscopy, have severe limitations.In this project we will improve the knowledge about the indoor mycobiome in Northern Europe by combining air sampling with high-throughput DNA sequencing (HTS) and qPCR. We will (i) construct a reference DNA sequence collection for indoor fungi, (ii) analyze the small-scale spatiotemporal variation of the indoor mycobiome within selected buildings, including a complete description of all indoor compartments, and (iii) characterize the geographic variation of the indoor mycobiome on a larger spatial scale (Scandinavia) through an aerobiological study of more than 200 buildings.The project will be conducted at the Oslo Mycology Group (University of Oslo) in close collaboration with the Norwegian consulting firm Mycoteam AS, which possesses 30 years expertise on indoor fungi. The project will improve our basic understanding about the indoor mycobiome, which will help to control fungal outbreaks as well as their adverse effects on building materials and occupants. Results from this study will be a first step towards a streamlined HTS based indoor mycobiome profiling approach with a commercial potential.This intersectoral project involves relevant expertise in fungal biology, building mycology, DNA analyses, and bioinformatics, and will provide a highly professional framework for the Experienced Researcher, as well as an excellent basis for his further development as an independent researcher.
Original text from CORDIS.
Participants
- UNIVERSITETET I OSLO · OsloCoordinatorNorway
Links
Data: CORDIS, © European Union