Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology, Division of Maternal-Fetal Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, United States.
Interdepartmental Program in Translational Biology and Molecular Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, United States.
Med. 2021 Sep 10;2(9):1027-1049. doi: 10.1016/j.medj.2021.06.001. Epub 2021 Jul 1.
was described as a keystone bacterial taxon in the human vagina over 100 years ago. Using metagenomics, we and others have characterized lactobacilli and other vaginal taxa across health and disease states, including pregnancy. While shifts in community membership have been resolved at the genus/species level, strain dynamics remain poorly characterized.
We performed a metagenomic analysis of the complex ecology of the vaginal econiche during and after pregnancy in a large U.S. based longitudinal cohort of women who were initially sampled in the third trimester of pregnancy, then validated key findings in a second cohort of women initially sampled in the second trimester of pregnancy.
First, we resolved microbial species and strains, interrogated their co-occurrence patterns, and probed the relationship between keystone species and preterm birth outcomes. Second, to determine the role of human heredity in shaping vaginal microbial ecology in relation to preterm birth, we performed a mtDNA-bacterial species association analysis. Finally, we explored the clinical utility of metagenomics in detection and co-occurrence patterns for the pathobiont Group B (causative bacterium of invasive neonatal sepsis).
Our highly refined resolutions of the vaginal ecology during and post-pregnancy provide insights into not only structural and functional community dynamics, but highlight the capacity of metagenomics to reveal finer aspects of the vaginal microbial ecologic framework.
NIH-NINR R01NR014792, NIH-NICHD R01HD091731, NIH National Children's Study Formative Research, Burroughs Wellcome Fund Preterm Birth Initiative, March of Dimes Preterm Birth Research Initiative, NIH-NIGMS (K12GM084897, T32GM007330, T32GM088129).
早在 100 多年前，就有人将其描述为人类阴道中的关键细菌分类群。通过宏基因组学，我们和其他人已经在健康和疾病状态下，包括怀孕期间，对乳杆菌和其他阴道分类群进行了特征描述。虽然群落成员的变化已经在属/种水平上得到解决，但菌株动态仍未得到很好的描述。
我们对美国一个大型纵向队列的女性在怀孕期间和之后的阴道生态位进行了复杂的宏基因组分析，这些女性最初在妊娠晚期被采样，然后在第二个队列的女性中验证了关键发现，这些女性最初在妊娠中期被采样。
首先，我们解决了微生物物种和菌株问题，探讨了它们的共现模式，并研究了关键物种与早产结局的关系。其次，为了确定人类遗传在与早产相关的塑造阴道微生物生态方面的作用，我们进行了 mtDNA-细菌物种关联分析。最后，我们探索了宏基因组学在检测和共生模式方面的临床应用，以确定致病生物群 B（引起侵袭性新生儿败血症的细菌）。
我们对怀孕期间和之后的阴道生态的高度精细化分辨率不仅提供了对结构和功能群落动态的深入了解，还突出了宏基因组学揭示阴道微生物生态框架更细微方面的能力。
NIH-NINR R01NR014792、NIH-NICHD R01HD091731、NIH 国家儿童研究形成性研究、Burroughs Wellcome 基金早产倡议、March of Dimes 早产研究倡议、NIH-NIGMS（K12GM084897、T32GM007330、T32GM088129）。
