The distributional characteristics of microorganisms in karst cave ecosystems have been widely studied. However, in such a dark, humid, and oligotrophic habitat, studies on the differences in carbon-sequestering bacteria in multiple habitats are limited. Therefore, to learn the distribution characteristics of carbon-sequestering colonies in cave habitats and their correlation with habitat factors (e.g., pH, Ca2+, Mg2+, etc.), samples from five cave habitats (weathered rock walls, underground river water, drips, sediments, and air) were collected from the twilight and dark zones of Shiziyan Cave (CO2 concentration 5385 ppm). The results of high-throughput sequencing and statistical analyses showed that there were significant differences in the distribution of communities in different habitats, with higher abundance in sediments habitat and underground river water habitat, and the dominant phyla of Pseudomonadota (30.53%) and Cyanobacteria (75.11%) in these two habitats. The microbial diversity of the carbon-sequestering microbial community was higher in sediments than in underground river water. The pH, and Ca2+, , and concentrations can alter the diversity of carbon-sequestering microbes, thereby affecting carbon cycling in caves. Carbon metabolism analyses suggest that microbes in the habitat can cooperate and coexist by participating in different carbon metabolic pathways. These results expanded our understanding of carbon-sequestering microbial communities in cave systems and their responses to the environment.
Bioaerosols are a potential risk of infection in densely populated indoor sites at university campuses. In this study, indoor bioaerosols from the canteen, classroom, and dormitory on campus were sampled and analyzed in the summer of 2021 to investigate the harmful risk. The results showed that bacteria are the predominant microbes, and the total number of bacteria detected in the classroom during no lesson in the morning (33% of samples) and in the canteen during meal times (55% of samples) was greater than the World Health Organization’s recommended value (1000 CFU/m3). The ranges of respirable bioaerosol (<3.3 µm) contributions in the classroom, dormitory, and canteen were 50–75%, 57–70%, and 64–80%, respectively. Bacteroidetes and Firmicutes were the most dominant phyla in all three indoor environments, with a relative abundance of both above 20%. At the family level, Muribaculaceae, Lachnospiraceae, and Bacteroidaceae had high relative abundance in all indoor sites. Some of the microbes carried by bioaerosols were conditionally pathogenic bacteria, such as Micrococcaceae and Enterococcaceae, which may have a harmful risk of causing various inflammatory infections. The results of this study provide basic data to improve indoor environments and control indoor bioaerosol pollution on campus.