Department of Occupational Health Sciences, University of Texas Health Science Center at Tyler, Tyler, Texas 75708-3154, USA.
J Occup Environ Hyg. 2010 Dec;7(12):693-9. doi: 10.1080/15459624.2010.526893.
Work in animal production facilities often results in exposure to organic dusts. Previous studies have documented decreases in pulmonary function and lung inflammation among workers exposed to organic dust in the poultry industry. Bacteria and fungi have been reported as components of the organic dust produced in poultry facilities. To date, little is known about the diversity and concentration of bacteria and fungi inside poultry buildings. All previous investigations have utilized culture-based methods for analysis that identify only biota cultured on selected media. The bacterial tag-encoded flexible (FLX) amplicon pyrosequencing (bTEFAP) and fungal tag-encoded flexible (FLX) amplicon pyrosequencing (fTEFAP) are modern and comprehensive approaches for determining biodiversity of microorganisms and have not previously been used to provide characterization of exposure to microorganisms in an occupational environment. This article illustrates the potential application of this novel technique in occupational exposure assessment as well as other settings. An 8-hr area sample was collected using an Institute of Medicine inhalable sampler attached to a mannequin in a poultry confinement building. The sample was analyzed using bTEFAP and fTEFAP. Of the bacteria and fungi detected, 116 and 39 genera were identified, respectively. Among bacteria, Staphylococcus cohnii was present in the highest proportion (23%). The total inhalable bacteria concentration was estimated to be 7503 cells/m³. Among the fungi identified, Sagenomella sclerotialis was present in the highest proportion (37%). Aspergillus ochraceus and Penicillium janthinellum were also present in high proportions. The total inhalable fungi concentration was estimated to be 1810 cells/m³. These estimates are lower than what has been reported by others using standard epifluorescence microscope methods. However, no study has used non-culture-based techniques, such as bTEFAP and fTEFAP, to evaluate bacteria and fungi in the inhalable fraction of a bioaerosol in a broiler production environment. Furthermore, the impact of this bTEFAP and fTEFAP technology has yet to be realized by the scientific community dedicated to evaluating occupational and environmental bioaerosol exposure.
动物生产设施中的工作通常会导致接触到有机粉尘。先前的研究已经记录了在禽类工业中接触有机粉尘的工人的肺功能下降和肺部炎症。细菌和真菌已被报道为禽类设施中产生的有机粉尘的组成部分。迄今为止，人们对禽类建筑物内细菌和真菌的多样性和浓度知之甚少。以前所有的调查都使用基于培养的方法进行分析，这些方法只能识别在选定培养基上培养的生物。细菌标签编码灵活（FLX）扩增子焦磷酸测序（bTEFAP）和真菌标签编码灵活（FLX）扩增子焦磷酸测序（fTEFAP）是用于确定微生物生物多样性的现代综合方法，以前从未用于描述职业环境中微生物暴露的特征。本文说明了该新技术在职业暴露评估中的潜在应用，以及其他领域的应用。使用附着在禽舍模型上的医学研究所可吸入采样器采集了 8 小时的区域样本。使用 bTEFAP 和 fTEFAP 对样本进行了分析。在所检测的细菌和真菌中，分别鉴定出 116 种和 39 种属。在细菌中，葡萄球菌属的存在比例最高（23%）。可吸入细菌的总浓度估计为 7503 个细胞/立方米。在所鉴定的真菌中，Sagenomella sclerotialis 的存在比例最高（37%）。黄曲霉和青霉也存在较高比例。可吸入真菌的总浓度估计为 1810 个细胞/立方米。这些估计值低于其他人使用标准荧光显微镜方法报告的值。然而，尚无研究使用非培养技术，如 bTEFAP 和 fTEFAP，来评估肉鸡生产环境中生物气溶胶可吸入部分的细菌和真菌。此外，致力于评估职业和环境生物气溶胶暴露的科学界尚未意识到 bTEFAP 和 fTEFAP 技术的影响。
