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Distortion of the Microbiota of the Natural Environment by Human Activities

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Evolution, Biodiversity and a Reassessment of the Hygiene Hypothesis

Part of the book series: Progress in Inflammation Research ((PIR,volume 89))

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Abstract

Natural environmental microbiota is extremely abundant and diverse in environments traditionally occupied by humans. Humans, like other animals, cause shifts in the microbiota in their living environment. The exceptional scale and longevity of these shifts pose a risk to natural and seminatural ecosystems and human health. Environmental pollution, non-native invasive plant species, and vegetation control by humans distort seasonal fluctuation and directly alter natural microbiota. They also reduce the accessibility of natural environmental microbiota in urbanized societies. The removal of organic surface soil and its substitution with man-made surfaces is the most extreme example of the distortion of natural microbiota; it cuts the number of microbial cells per gram soil to one thousandth or one hundred thousandth of the original level. Since humans evolved in continuous contact with environmental microbiota, efforts to rewild urban microbiota are being developed to reintroduce diverse contacts with microbiota of the natural environment to everyday life of urban dwellers. Recent findings suggest that these efforts may lead to enhanced immune modulation. Further research is needed to understand whether this eventually results in a lower incidence of immune-mediated diseases in urbanized societies.

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Acknowledgments

The author thanks Marja I. Roslund and the editors for constructive comments and Anna Luukkonen for formatting the references.

Compliance with Ethical Standards

International and local laws and the ethical standards of the publisher were always followed. When a study by the author’s research group recruited human volunteers, the ethical approval was obtained from the ethical committee of the local hospital district (Tampereen yliopistollisen sairaalan erityisvastuualueen alueellinen eettinen toimikunta, Pirkanmaa, Finland). All participants received oral and written information about the study, and they or the parents/guardians of the children provided a written informed consent that was in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki.

Conflict of Interest Statement

The author has been named as an inventor in two patent applications submitted by the University of Helsinki (patent application number 20165932 “Immunomodulatory compositions” and patent application number 20175196 “Immunomodulatory gardening and landscaping material” at the Finnish Patent and Registration Office). The author has not received royalties from the patent applications. The author, jointly with University of Helsinki and other key investigators in the application number 20165932, is a founder and member of the board of Uute Scientific Ltd, which develops biodiversity-based interventions for the prevention of immune-mediated diseases.

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  1. Production Systems Unit, Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke), Turku, Finland

    Aki Sinkkonen

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Correspondence to Aki Sinkkonen .

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  1. Centre for Clinical Microbiology, UCL (University College London), London, UK

    Graham A. W. Rook

  2. Dept. of Integrative Physiology UCB 603, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO, USA

    Christopher A. Lowry

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Sinkkonen, A. (2022). Distortion of the Microbiota of the Natural Environment by Human Activities. In: Rook, G.A.W., Lowry, C.A. (eds) Evolution, Biodiversity and a Reassessment of the Hygiene Hypothesis. Progress in Inflammation Research, vol 89. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-91051-8_8

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