Pathogenic bacteria associated with household arthropods
The bacteria identified through the culture-based and the metabarcoding
approach were intersected with the Health and Safety Executive (HSE)
list of biological agents, in order to assess the presence of pathogenic
bacteria associated with the household arthropods. The metabarcoding and
the culture-based approach shared 10 (4.7%) bacteria families, which
were all listed in the HSE database as potentially pathogenic (Fig. 5).
A single bacterial family that intersected with the HSE database was
identified solely through the culture-based approach, whereas 18
families (8.5%) uniquely identified with the metabarcoding approach
intersected with the HSE database (Fig. 5). A significant positive
correlation based on the 2x2 contingency table was found between
isolated human pathogens and indoor arthropods, as well as between
environmental bacteria and outdoor arthropods (χ2=28.177, p = 0.0001)
(Table S4).