Bed bugs modify microbiome of homes they infest

Date:
July 15, 2020
Source:
North Carolina State University
Summary:
Bed bug infestations can modify the home microbiome, according to
a new study. When bed bugs are eradicated, home microbiomes return
to normal.



FULL STORY ========================================================================== Homes infested by bed bugs appear to have different bacterial communities
- - often referred to as microbiomes -- than homes without bed bugs,
according to a first-of-its-kind study from North Carolina State
University. In addition, once bed bug infestations were eradicated,
home microbiomes became more similar to those in homes that never had bed
bugs. The findings could be an important step in lifting the veil on the factors involved in indoor environmental quality and how to improve it.


========================================================================== Microbes can affect indoor air quality. So NC State entomologists Coby
Schal and Madhavi Kakumanu wanted to learn more about the microbiomes
of bed bugs, whether bed bugs can shape the microbial community in homes
they infest, and whether eliminating bed bugs changes the microbiome of
homes that were once infested.

The study, held in an apartment complex in Raleigh, compared the
microbiomes of bed bugs with the microbiomes in the household dust of
infested homes as well as the microbiomes in apartments that had no
bed bugs. Nineteen infested homes were studied over the course of four
months; seven were treated with heat to eliminate bed bugs after the
initial sample was taken, while 12 infested homes were treated after
one month. These homes were compared with 11 homes that had no bed bugs.

The results showed similarities between the microbiomes of bed bugs
and the dust-associated microbiomes of infested homes, mostly through
the presence of Wolbachia, a symbiotic bacterium that comprises the
majority of the bacterial abundance in bed bugs. Bed bug and infested
home microbiomes differed significantly from the microbial communities
of uninfested homes.

"There is a link between the microbiome of bed bugs and the microbiome
of household dust in bed bug infested homes," said Schal, the Blanton
J. Whitmire Distinguished Professor of Entomology at NC State and co-corresponding author of the paper. "No previous study has reported
the impact of chronic pest infestations on indoor microbial diversity."
The study also showed that, after bed bugs were eliminated, infested home microbiomes gradually became more like those in homes without bed bugs.

"The elimination of the bed bugs resulted in gradual shifts in the home microbial communities toward those of uninfested homes," Kakumanu, an
NC State research scholar in Schal's lab and co-corresponding author of
the study, said.

"This paper is the first experimental demonstration that eliminating an
indoor pest alters the indoor microbiome toward that of uninfested homes."
"Bed bug infestations are problematic in many homes in both developed
and developing countries," Schal said. "There is a critical need to
investigate infestations from the perspective of indoor environmental
quality, and this paper represents a first step toward this end."

========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by North_Carolina_State_University. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Madhavi L. Kakumanu, Zachary C. DeVries, Alexis M. Barbarin,
Richard G.

Santangelo, Coby Schal. Bed bugs shape the indoor microbial
community composition of infested homes. Science of The Total
Environment, 2020; 743: 140704 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.140704 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/07/200715123122.htm

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