[Methods for assessing the microbiological diversity of the ocular surface].

This review compares data from scientific studies on the microbial community of the ocular surface (OS) in conditionally healthy individuals using cultural methods (including culture-dependent diagnostic tests), microscopic and molecular genetic methods, and assesses the influence of research methods and sample preparation on the results. Concordance and discordance of the sets of identified microorganisms were analyzed using overlapping and non-overlapping methods of studying the microbial community of a healthy OS. The article presents tables showing the names of microorganisms that were identified in different sources. Cross-verification in taxa of different ranks helped confirm the following most frequently found microorganisms on healthy OS: coccomorphic microorganisms of the genera , , , , ; gram-positive spore-forming bacilli of the genera and ; gram-positive non-spore-forming rod-shaped bacteria, including , but excluding and ; gram-negative non-spore-forming rod-shaped microorganisms of the genera and . The study also assessed the effect of wearing soft contact lenses on the composition of the microbial community of the OS.