From Soil to Surface: Exploring the Impact of Green Infrastructure on Microbial Communities in the Built Environment

Abstract

High microbial diversity offers extensive benefits to both the environment and human health, contributing to ecosystem stability, nutrient cycling, and pathogen suppression. In built environments, factors such as building design, human activity, and cleaning protocols influence microbial communities. This study investigates the impact of landscape design on microbial diversity and function within the "Visionary Lab" exhibition in Tokyo, Japan, using 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing and shallow shotgun sequencing. Despite the limited sample size, the study suggests that the Visionary Lab samples may exhibit higher microbial diversity compared to other museum areas. Potential distinct microbial community structures may be correlated with sampling locations. However, despite this, no consistent patterns were observed in virulence factors or antimicrobial resistance genes across the samples. Metabolic function analysis showed varied profiles, suggesting diverse ecological interactions influenced that may be by the curated landscape. This suggest that the curated landscape design may have the potential to enhance microbial diversity, highlighting a possible avenue to create healthier and more sustainable built environments. However, the lack of consistent patterns in virulence factors and antimicrobial resistance genes underscores the complexity of microbial community dynamics.