I2GROW Aim 3.1

Metagenomic sequencing survey of pathogens in the environment with heavy human activities

Lead: Dr. Boris Vinatzer, Virginia Tech School of Plant and Environmental Sciences | vinatzer@vt.edu

Undergraduate Research Assistant: Thiviya Karuppasamy, Microbiology & Public Health '26 | thiviya@vt.edu

Background & Purpose

• Growing edible plants in public spaces for consumption by the public could help reduce CO2 emissions from buildings, combat food insecurity, positively affect occupants’ physical and mental well-being, and improve indoor air quality, including changes to the microbes present in indoor air, for example, reducing the concentration of respiratory viruses.

• However, growing plants in public settings could also present challenges to plant and human health:

  • Plants could be at heightened risk of disease compared to when grown in a more typical controlled-environment agriculture (CEA) setting due to increased exposure to plant pathogens

  • People in public spaces could contaminate plants with food-borne pathogens that present a health risk when later consumed by other building occupants

As a first step in assessing the risks and benefits of edible plants grown in public spaces, this project will use a Virginia Tech classroom as the setting and whole-genome metagenomics as the method to analyze the plant and air microbial communities.

Experimental Design

Spring 2025: Placed hydroponic systems in Virginia Tech Greenhouse 100 Classroom to (1) Rotate lettuce plants in and out (2) Sample plant and aerosol DNA and (3) Measure CO2 and humidity.

• • Instructors and students using the classroom received verbal and written instruction on which plants to touch and stay 3 feet away from. Participation is voluntary and information from instructors and students will not be recorded. This project is not research involving human subjects as defined by HHS and FDA regulations based on review by the Virginia Tech Institutional Review Board (FWA00000572)

  • Hypothesis: The plant microbiome will be (1) minimally affected by humans in the room without direct contact, (2) moderately affected by droplets, and (3) strongly affected by touch

What next?

• Whole-genome metagenomics sequencing

• Taxonomic and strain-resolution comparison of microbial communities, the microbiome, on plants and indoor air

• Survey classroom instructors and students on impact of plants on physical and mental well-being

Photo gallery coming soon!