Size-related bacterial diversity and tetracycline resistance gene abundance in the air of concentrated poultry feeding operations

Concentrated animal-feeding operations (CAFOs) are considered a source of airborne human pathogens and antibiotic resistance genes. Although bacterial abundance and diversity have been well studied, limited information on the size distribution of bioaerosols has prevented a clear understanding of the health effects of exposure to bioaerosols from CAFOs. Here, different sizes of particles were sampled from the inside and outside of atmospheric environments of layer and broiler feeding operations using 8-stage Andersen samplers. The quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) and 16S rDNA-based sequencing were used to analyze the characteristics of biological abundance and diversity, respectively, according to size. The results indicated that size-related differences occurred in terms of airborne bacterial richness, diversity, and concentration at poultry-feeding operations. The richness of biological genera in the urban atmospheric environment was lower than in concentrated poultry-feeding operations. The biological diversity of airborne bacterial genera, including genera associated with potential pathogens, varied according to size. The bacterial lineages of bioaerosols present in the 7 size stages for layers clustered apart from those for broilers, suggesting that the type of poultry house is a more important factor than the particle size in shaping the microbial communities. In most cases, the concentrations of the 16S rDNA, Escherichia coli, tetW, and tetL genes increased as the particle size increased, with the geometric mean diameters varying from 4.7 to 5.8 μm. These results regarding the size-related differences in the diversity and abundance of bioaerosols will facilitate a better understanding of the potential health impact on both poultry and humans working in such environments.