Three-dimensional models of the cervicovaginal epithelia to study host-microbiome interactions and sexually transmitted infections.

2D cell culture systems have historically provided controlled, reproducible means to analyze host-pathogen interactions observed in the human reproductive tract. Although inexpensive, straightforward, and requiring a very short time commitment, these models recapitulate neither the functionality of multilayered cell types nor the associated microbiome that occurs in a human. Animal models have commonly been used to recreate the complexity of human infections.

Highly Specialized Carbohydrate Metabolism Capability in Strains Associated with Intestinal Barrier Maturation in Early Preterm Infants.

"Leaky gut," or high intestinal barrier permeability, is common in preterm newborns. The role of the microbiota in this process remains largely uncharacterized. We employed both short- and long-read sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene and metagenomes to characterize the intestinal microbiome of a longitudinal cohort of 113 preterm infants born between 24 and 32 weeks of gestation.

Comparative Metagenome-Assembled Genome Analysis of " Lachnocurva vaginae", Formerly Known as Bacterial Vaginosis-Associated Bacterium-1 (BVAB1).

Bacterial vaginosis-associated bacterium 1 (BVAB1) is an as-yet uncultured bacterial species found in the human vagina that belongs to the family within the order . As its name suggests, this bacterium is often associated with bacterial vaginosis (BV), a common vaginal disorder that has been shown to increase a woman's risk for HIV, , and infections as well as preterm birth. BVAB1 has been further associated with the persistence of BV following metronidazole treatment, increased vaginal inflammation, and adverse obstetrics outcomes.

The Cervicovaginal Microbiota-Host Interaction Modulates Chlamydia trachomatis Infection.

The mechanism(s) by which -dominated cervicovaginal microbiota provide a barrier to infection remain(s) unknown. Here we evaluate the impact of different spp. identified via culture-independent metataxonomic analysis of -infected women on infection in a three-dimensional (3D) cervical epithelium model.

Ultrahigh-Throughput Multiplexing and Sequencing of >500-Base-Pair Amplicon Regions on the Illumina HiSeq 2500 Platform.

Amplification, sequencing, and analysis of the 16S rRNA gene affords characterization of microbial community composition. As this tool has become more popular and amplicon-sequencing applications have grown in the total number of samples, growth in sample multiplexing is becoming necessary while maintaining high sequence quality and sequencing depth. Here, modifications to the Illumina HiSeq 2500 platform are described which produce greater multiplexing capabilities and 300-bp paired-end reads of higher quality than those produced by the current Illumina MiSeq platform.

Complete Genome Sequence of Lactobacillus crispatus CO3MRSI1.

Lactobacillus crispatus is a commonly found bacterium in vertebrate microbiota, particularly the human vagina. We report the first complete genome of a strain isolated from a human vagina, L. crispatus CO3MRSI1.

Microbial Biomarkers of Intestinal Barrier Maturation in Preterm Infants.

Intestinal barrier immaturity, or "leaky gut," is the proximate cause of susceptibility to necrotizing enterocolitis in preterm neonates. However, the impact of intestinal microbiota development on intestinal mucosal barrier maturation has not been evaluated in this population. In this study, we investigated a longitudinally sampled cohort of 38 preterm infants < 33 weeks gestation monitored for intestinal permeability (IP) and fecal microbiota during the first 2 weeks of life.