National Engineering Research Center for Breeding Swine Industry, College of Animal Science, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou, China.
Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Agro-Animal Genomics and Molecular Breeding, College of Animal Science, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou, China.
mSystems. 2023 Apr 27;8(2):e0119222. doi: 10.1128/msystems.01192-22. Epub 2023 Feb 7.
Extensive research has explored the causes of embryo losses during early pregnancy by analyzing interaction mechanisms in sows' uterus, ignoring the importance of the lower reproductive tract in pregnancy development regulation. Despite recent progress in understanding the diversity of vaginal microbes under different physiological states, the dynamic of sows' vaginal microbiotas during pregnancy and the interaction between vaginal microbes and the host are poorly understood. Here, we performed a comprehensive analysis of sows' vaginal microbial communities in early pregnancy coupled with overall patterns of vaginal mucosal epithelium gene expression. The vaginal microbiota was analyzed by 16s rRNA or metagenome sequencing, and the vaginal mucosal epithelium transcriptome was analyzed by RNA sequencing, followed by integration of the data layers. We found that the sows' vaginal microbiotas in early pregnancy develop dynamically, and there is a homeostasis balance of and . Subsequently, we identified two pregnancy-specific communities, which play diverse roles. The microbes in the vagina stimulate the epithelial cells, while vaginal epithelium changes its structure and functions in response to stimulation. These changes produce specific inflammation responses to promote pregnancy development. Our findings demonstrate the interaction between microbes and host in the sow vagina in early pregnancy to promote pregnancy development, meanwhile providing a reference data set for the study of targeted therapies of microbial homeostasis dysregulation in the female reproductive tract. This work sheds light on the dynamics of the sow vaginal microbiotas in early pregnancy and its roles in pregnancy development. Furthermore, this study provides insight into the functional mechanisms of reproductive tract microbes by outlining vaginal microbe-host interactions, which might identify new research and intervention targets for improving pregnancy development by modulating lower reproductive tract microbiota.
大量研究通过分析母猪子宫内的相互作用机制来探索早期妊娠胚胎丢失的原因，而忽略了下生殖道在妊娠发育调节中的重要性。尽管最近在理解不同生理状态下阴道微生物多样性方面取得了进展，但母猪阴道微生物群在妊娠期间的动态变化以及阴道微生物与宿主之间的相互作用仍知之甚少。在这里，我们对早期妊娠母猪的阴道微生物群落进行了全面分析，并结合阴道黏膜上皮基因表达的整体模式进行了分析。通过 16s rRNA 或宏基因组测序分析阴道微生物群，通过 RNA 测序分析阴道黏膜上皮转录组，然后整合数据层。我们发现，母猪早期妊娠的阴道微生物群是动态发展的，存在着 和 的动态平衡。随后，我们鉴定出两个妊娠特异性群落，它们发挥着多样化的作用。阴道中的微生物刺激上皮细胞，而阴道上皮细胞会根据刺激改变其结构和功能。这些变化产生特定的炎症反应，以促进妊娠的发展。我们的研究结果表明，在早期妊娠母猪的阴道中，微生物与宿主之间存在相互作用，以促进妊娠的发展，同时为研究女性生殖道微生物内稳态失调的靶向治疗提供了参考数据集。 本研究阐明了母猪阴道微生物群在早期妊娠中的动态变化及其在妊娠发育中的作用。此外，本研究通过概述阴道微生物-宿主相互作用，深入了解生殖道微生物的功能机制，这可能为通过调节下生殖道微生物群来改善妊娠发育提供新的研究和干预靶点。
