Microbial biodiversity at schools and its link with children’s health

There is a wealth of microbial diversity in the environment, in soil, on plants, and in the atmosphere. Urbanisation usually involves disturbance and sealing of soil, along with a decrease and alteration of vegetation. This process drastically reduces natural microbial sources such as soil and phyllosphere (leaf surfaces), which also contribute to enriching the atmosphere. Nevertheless, in an urban environment, other microbial sources are more common, such as wastewater treatment, trash, and human-associated microbes. Significant differences have been observed in the environmental microbial communities between urban and non-urban environments. Several hypotheses highlight the importance of contact with diverse natural microbial communities for human health, especially for children. 

This webinar with Irina Spacova and Wenke Smets, recorded on 20 March 2024, used a case study of the Belgian B@SEBALL project, and illustrated how to investigate microbial biodiversity at school playgrounds and its potential contribution to different aspects of children’s health. This case study showcases the possibilities and limits of 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing in the context of the biodiversity hypothesis. Does microbial diversity benefit human health? The answer seems to be more nuanced than expected. The webinar also demonstrated the power of adjusting and generating hypotheses based on field microbiome data.

Learning outcomes

After watching the webinar recording you will be able to:

• Outline the hypotheses connecting exposure to microbial biodiversity in the environment with benefits for human health
• Appreciate the study set-up and methods used to explore the environmental microbiomes in relation to children’s microbiomes and health
• Identify the benefits and limits of using amplicon sequencing for improved understanding of the impact of microbial ecosystems

You may either watch the entire presentation from the introduction or navigate directly to a specific section by clicking the links provided below:

• Introduction
• Characteristics of urban environments associated with urban diseases
• The human microbiome and its importance
• Microbiomes connecting One health
• The biodiversity hypothesis
• Investigating the biodiversity hypothesis in Belgian schools
• Q&A

Move on to the next page to explore the computational tools useful in characterising human microbiome at strain-level resolution.