Bacterial Communities in Women with Bacterial Vaginosis: High Resolution Phylogenetic Analyses Reveal Relationships of Microbiota to Clinical Criteria

BACKGROUND: Bacterial vaginosis (BV) is a common condition that is associated with numerous adverse health outcomes and is characterized by poorly understood changes in the vaginal microbiota. We sought to describe the composition and diversity of the vaginal bacterial biota in women with BV using deep sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene coupled with species-level taxonomic identification. We investigated the associations between the presence of individual bacterial species and clinical diagnostic characteristics of BV. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Broad-range 16S rRNA gene PCR and pyrosequencing were performed on vaginal swabs from 220 women with and without BV. BV was assessed by Amsel's clinical criteria and…

• NI
  National Institutes of Health

  Awards: R01 AI061628, HG005966-01
• NH
  National Human Genome Research Institute

  Award: HG005966-01
• NI
  National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases

  Award: R01 AI061628