Interactions Between Natural and Built Environment Microbiomes in a One Health Context

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About this Research Topic

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Background

The built environment provides a surrounding for diverse human activities and is where people spend over 90% of their time. The adjacent natural environment, as well as its human, animal, and plant occupants, contribute to the microbiome of the built environment, which can in turn shape human, animal, and environmental health. Recognizing the interconnectedness between human, animal, and ecosystem health, a One Health perspective provides an essential lens for the understanding of interactions between natural and built environment microbiomes.

Interactions between natural and built environment microbiomes are complex and involve biological and abiotic systems, the characterization of which will improve our understanding of the distinct transfer processes of their components between those environments. Microbes from natural environments contribute to the built environment microbiome, and once introduced, they are influenced and altered by human activities before returning to the natural environment by exchange of air, water, or other material. Understanding the processes governing natural and built environment microbiome interactions can help us to combat critical health threats including antimicrobial resistance and emerging pathogens including bacteria and viruses. The challenge is pressing due to the accelerated expansion of built environments and encroachment of human population centers into natural ecosystems.

In addition, the interplay of anthropogenic chemicals with the above-mentioned health threats needs greater consideration. For example, the use of antimicrobials and disinfectant chemicals in the built environment exerts selective pressures on the built environment microbiome, driving development or enrichment of antimicrobial resistance which threatens human, animal, and environmental health on a global scale. Understanding the mechanisms of antimicrobial resistance development and targeted monitoring of its prevalence is critical for the continued efficacy of antibiotic therapy in clinical settings and to inform decision-making processes for the protection of human, animal, and environmental health.

This Research Topic aims to collect communications that may improve our understanding of the interactions between natural and built environment microbiomes from all aspects under the One Health framework. We welcome all submissions including original research papers, reviews, and methodologies under this theme. Sub-themes include, but are not limited to:

• Mechanisms of antimicrobial resistance developed under the impact of anthropogenic chemicals in built environments
• Microbial community diversity and metabolic characterizations in relation to the interactions between natural and built environments
• Insights or novel frameworks for identifying monitoring, and quantitative risk assessments of emerging health risks from a One Health perspective
• New perspectives on diverse interactions between human, animal, plant and built environment microbiomes
• Computational approaches to monitor, classify and/or predict microbial growth and risks in our built environments
• Impacts of climate change on the interactions between natural and built environment microbiomes

Research Topic Research topic image

Keywords: one health, Built environment microbiome, anthropogenic chemicals, antimicrobial resistance, emerging pathogens, health threats

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.

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