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).