This project will focus on Pseudomonas bacteria in human households, with the goal of understanding how the Pseudomonas move from place to place within the home, and whether or not they are able to live in all the places in which they arrive. To do this, first bacteria will be collected from kitchens, bathrooms, yards, people and pets, and other places within human homes. This collection of Pseudomonas will be studied genetically, to identify places in the home that tend to share related bacteria. When bacteria in two locations are closely related it suggests that the locations were colonized by the same parent source. Second, many types of bacteria coexist in bacterial communities. The ways in which the focal bacteria, Pseudomonas, interact with other members of the bacterial community will also be quantified. This information will shed light on the degree to which locations that look similar to the human eye are actually also similar from the perspective of the microbes' ability to persist and provide insights into microbial differentiation. Third, physical characteristics of Pseudomonas that affect the bacteria's interactions with the physical environment and with other members of the bacterial community will be measured. This will aid in the development of an understanding of how Pseudomonas can live where it does, and how it affects other members of the bacterial community, helping to define the niche of this bacteria. Finally, sterile environments such as clean drains and new houseplant soil will be introduced into human homes and the arrival and establishment of Pseudomonas bacteria in them will be described. These experiments will allow us to document the process by which Pseudomonas move among locations in the human home.
In addition to the direct scientific results of this work, the project will generate additional contributions. One of these will be a large collection of Pseudomonas isolates that will be available to researchers for future work. In addition, the project will be used to train university students, and the research group will collaborate with local high school teachers and students, including underrepresented groups, to bring the study of bacteria into the curriculum of an AP high school biology class in the Louisville KY area.
