Investigating the interplay of indoor microbial diversity with pollutant variables and human health profile in Indian slums: a metagenomic approach

Metagenomic tools provide a comprehensive platform for exploring the indoor microbiota, a known potential health threat. The present study is designed to observe the comprehensive in-house microbiota of selected slum areas and assess its inter and intra-correlation with environmental and human health profiles. In our understanding, this is the first study reporting the indoor microflora of a slum area in a humid temporal zone. House dust from slum households (n = 240) was used as samples for 16S targeted metagenomic sequencing by NOVASEQ. Metagenome sequencing exhibited the presence of > 140 insignificantly variable species at both slum locations. Actinobacteria and Proteobacteria dominated with > 75% relative abundance. Volcano plots showed a significant association of observed microbiota with temperature, humidity, leakage, ventilation, and odor. Species diversity and selected pollutants and health variables were clustered into three groups, as depicted by agglomerative hierarchical clustering, and positive correlations were observed with the health profile of the natives as well as with environmental and infrastructural parameters. Thus, this study highlights the utility of metagenomic tools in providing a detailed understanding of the indoor microbiota in slum areas, shedding light on the complex interactions between environmental factors, microbial diversity, and public health. These insights could design future interventions to mitigate health risks.