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.

Distribution, Interaction and Functional Profiles of Epiphytic Bacterial Communities from the Rocky Intertidal Seaweeds, South Africa.

Interrelations between epiphytic bacteria and macroalgae are multifaceted and complicated, though little is known about the community structure, interaction and functions of those epiphytic bacteria. This study comprehensively characterized the epiphytic bacterial communities associated with eight different common seaweeds collected from a rocky intertidal zone on the Indian Ocean at Cape Vidal, South Africa. High-throughput sequencing analyses indicated that seaweed-associated bacterial communities were dominated by the phyla Proteobacteria, Bacteroidetes, Firmicutes, Cyanobacteria, Planctomycetes, Actinobacteria and Verrucomicrobia.