Skip to main content

Microbiome of the Built Environment (MoBE) 2017: Research to Application

New Content Item (1)We invite submissions of MoBE papers highlighting recent research and emerging hot topics along the theme of “MoBE Research to Applications” . The goal of the MoBE 2017: Research to Application series is to present the latest MoBE research findings furthering our understanding of the formation and function of microbial communities in built environments, their impacts on human health, and how human occupants shape complex indoor microbiomes in relation to human exposure.


The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation and The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine are co-hosting the Microbiology of the Built Environment Research and Applications Symposium (MoBE 2017) at the National Academy of Sciences Building (2101 Connecticut Ave., N.W., Washington, DC).  MoBE 2017 will celebrate the accomplishments of the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation funded MoBE program and chart the future of the MoBE research field.

  1. A majority of indoor residential microbes originate from humans, pets, and outdoor air and are not adapted to the built environment (BE). Consequently, a large portion of the microbes identified by DNA-based m...

    Authors: Cinta Gomez-Silvan, Marcus H. Y. Leung, Katherine A. Grue, Randeep Kaur, Xinzhao Tong, Patrick K. H. Lee and Gary L. Andersen
    Citation: Microbiome 2018 6:71
  2. Numerous studies have thus far characterized the temporal dynamics of the skin microbiota of healthy individuals. However, there is no information regarding the dynamics of different microbial association netw...

    Authors: Marcus H. Y. Leung, Xinzhao Tong, David Wilkins, Hedwig H. L. Cheung and Patrick K. H. Lee
    Citation: Microbiome 2018 6:26
  3. Floor dust is commonly used for microbial determinations in epidemiological studies to estimate early-life indoor microbial exposures. Resuspension of floor dust and its impact on infant microbial exposure is,...

    Authors: Heidi K. Hyytiäinen, Balamuralikrishna Jayaprakash, Pirkka V. Kirjavainen, Sampo E. Saari, Rauno Holopainen, Jorma Keskinen, Kaarle Hämeri, Anne Hyvärinen, Brandon E. Boor and Martin Täubel
    Citation: Microbiome 2018 6:25
  4. Establishing reliable methods for assessing the microbiome within the built environment is critical for understanding the impact of biological exposures on human health. High-throughput DNA sequencing of dust ...

    Authors: Juan P. Maestre, Wiley Jennings, Dennis Wylie, Sharon D. Horner, Jeffrey Siegel and Kerry A. Kinney
    Citation: Microbiome 2018 6:22
  5. The ExoMars 2016 mission, consisting of the Trace Gas Orbiter and the Schiaparelli lander, was launched on March 14 2016 from Baikonur, Kazakhstan and reached its destination in October 2016. The Schiaparelli ...

    Authors: Kaisa Koskinen, Petra Rettberg, Rüdiger Pukall, Anna Auerbach, Lisa Wink, Simon Barczyk, Alexandra Perras, Alexander Mahnert, Diana Margheritis, Gerhard Kminek and Christine Moissl-Eichinger
    Citation: Microbiome 2017 5:143
  6. The limited understanding of microbial characteristics in moisture-damaged buildings impedes efforts to clarify which adverse health effects in the occupants are associated with the damage and to develop effec...

    Authors: Balamuralikrishna Jayaprakash, Rachel I. Adams, Pirkka Kirjavainen, Anne Karvonen, Asko Vepsäläinen, Maria Valkonen, Kati Järvi, Michael Sulyok, Juha Pekkanen, Anne Hyvärinen and Martin Täubel
    Citation: Microbiome 2017 5:138
  7. The public commonly associates microorganisms with pathogens. This suspicion of microorganisms is understandable, as historically microorganisms have killed more humans than any other agent while remaining lar...

    Authors: Daria Shamarina, Iana Stoyantcheva, Christopher E. Mason, Kyle Bibby and Eran Elhaik
    Citation: Microbiome 2017 5:132
  8. Several biotic and abiotic factors have been reported to influence the proliferation of microbes, including Legionella pneumophila, in hot water premise plumbing systems, but their combined effects have not been ...

    Authors: Caitlin R. Proctor, Dongjuan Dai, Marc A. Edwards and Amy Pruden
    Citation: Microbiome 2017 5:130
  9. The Mars500 project was conceived as the first full duration simulation of a crewed return flight to Mars. For 520 days, six crew members lived confined in a specifically designed spacecraft mock-up. The herei...

    Authors: Petra Schwendner, Alexander Mahnert, Kaisa Koskinen, Christine Moissl-Eichinger, Simon Barczyk, Reinhard Wirth, Gabriele Berg and Petra Rettberg
    Citation: Microbiome 2017 5:129
  10. Microorganisms influence the chemical milieu of their environment, and chemical metabolites can affect ecological processes. In built environments, where people spend the majority of their time, very little is...

    Authors: Rachel I. Adams, Despoina S. Lymperopoulou, Pawel K. Misztal, Rita De Cassia Pessotti, Scott W. Behie, Yilin Tian, Allen H. Goldstein, Steven E. Lindow, William W. Nazaroff, John W. Taylor, Matt F. Traxler and Thomas D. Bruns
    Citation: Microbiome 2017 5:128
  11. Microbial communities in our built environments have great influence on human health and disease. A variety of built environments have been characterized using a metagenomics-based approach, including some hea...

    Authors: Niamh B. O’Hara, Harry J. Reed, Ebrahim Afshinnekoo, Donell Harvin, Nora Caplan, Gail Rosen, Brook Frye, Stephen Woloszynek, Rachid Ounit, Shawn Levy, Erin Butler and Christopher E. Mason
    Citation: Microbiome 2017 5:125
  12. The built environment of the International Space Station (ISS) is a highly specialized space in terms of both physical characteristics and habitation requirements. It is unique with respect to conditions of mi...

    Authors: Nicholas A. Be, Aram Avila-Herrera, Jonathan E. Allen, Nitin Singh, Aleksandra Checinska Sielaff, Crystal Jaing and Kasthuri Venkateswaran
    Citation: Microbiome 2017 5:81

    The Erratum to this article has been published in Microbiome 2017 5:111