Complex building premises plumbing systems provide an ideal niche for diverse waterborne microorganisms, including opportunistic pathogens such as Legionella pneumophila. In this field study, we collected cold and hot water samples from premises plumbing systems of nine different high-rise buildings and examined the L. pneumophila culturable positivity and concentration to examine microbial ecology trends associated with L. pneumophila colonization. In addition, bacterial community structure was evaluated using high throughput 16S rRNA gene sequencing. 9.1% (2/22) of cold-water samples and 30.5% (18/59) of hot water samples were positive for L. pneumophila culture. 16S rRNA gene sequencing demonstrated a diverse bacterial community in the sampled premises plumbing systems. The phyla Proteobacteria, Acidobacteria, Bacteroidetes, Gemmatimonadetes, Planctomycetes, and Thermi represented a combined 97.7% average relative abundance, dominating the bacterial community. Also, an apparent bacterial community difference was observed between cold water and hot water. Interestingly, by examining cold water and hot water separately, we identified several bacterial taxa in the phyla Bacteroidetes, Gemmatimonadetes, and Acidobacteria were significantly enriched in L. pneumophila culture positive samples, while taxa in Proteobacteria were significantly enriched in L. pneumophila culture negative water samples. The correlation of L. pneumophila colonization and bacterial community structure suggests a potential association between this waterborne opportunistic pathogen and the premises plumbing microbial community, which merits further research.

中文翻译：

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细菌群落结构与纽约市高层建筑房舍水暖系统中嗜肺军团菌的定殖有关

复杂的楼宇房舍管道系统为各种水性微生物（包括机会病原体，如嗜肺军团菌）提供了理想的定位。在这项现场研究中，我们从九个不同高层建筑的房屋管道系统中收集了冷水和热水样品，并检查了肺炎链球菌可培养的阳性和浓度，以检查与肺炎链球菌定植有关的微生物生态趋势。另外，使用高通量16S rRNA基因测序来评估细菌群落结构。9.1％（2/22）的冷水样本和30.5％（18/59）的热水样本呈嗜肺乳杆菌文化。16S rRNA基因测序证明了在采样的管道系统中细菌的多样性。门的Proteobacteria，Acidobacteria，拟杆菌，Gemmatimonadetes，Planctomycetes和Thermi的平均相对丰度合计为97.7％，在细菌群落中占主导地位。另外，在冷水和热水之间观察到明显的细菌群落差异。有趣的是，单独检查冷水和热水，我们确定了几个细菌类群的门类拟杆菌，芽单胞菌门和酸杆菌门在被显著丰富肺炎链球菌培养阳性样品，而Proteobacteria中的分类单元明显富集肺炎乳杆菌培养阴性水样品。的相关性嗜肺军团菌定植和细菌群落结构表明，这种水生致病菌和房地水暖微生物群落，这值得进一步研究之间的潜在关联。