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Microbial Genomics logo Microbial Genomics

Volume 10, Issue 7

Evidence of strains shared between the female urinary and vaginal microbiota Open Access

Abstract

species are common inhabitants of the ‘healthy’ female urinary and vaginal communities, often associated with a lack of symptoms in both anatomical sites. Given identification by prior studies of similar bacterial species in both communities, it has been hypothesized that the two microbiotas are in fact connected. Here, we carried out whole-genome sequencing of 49 strains, including 16 paired urogenital samples from the same participant. These strains represent five different species: , , , , and . Average nucleotide identity (ANI), alignment, single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP), and CRISPR comparisons between strains from the same participant were performed. We conducted simulations of genome assemblies and ANI comparisons and present a statistical method to distinguish between unrelated, related, and identical strains. We found that 50 % of the paired samples have identical strains, evidence that the urinary and vaginal communities are connected. Additionally, we found evidence of strains sharing a common ancestor. These results establish that microbial sharing between the urinary tract and vagina is not limited to uropathogens. Knowledge that these two anatomical sites can share lactobacilli in females can inform future clinical approaches.

  • Received:
  • Accepted:
  • Published Online:
Keyword(s): connected microbiota , Lactobacillus , urinary microbiome , urogenital and vaginal microbiome
Funding
This study was supported by the:
  • Loyola University Chicago
    • Principle Award Recipient: HaleyAtkins
  • National Institutes of Health (US) (Award R25DK122954)
    • Principle Award Recipient: CatherinePutonti
© 2024 The Authors
  • This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License.
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2024-07-01
2025-06-13
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Evidence of Lactobacillus strains shared between the female urinary and vaginal microbiota
M Gen 10, 001267 (2024); https://doi.org/10.1099/mgen.0.001267
/content/journal/mgen/10.1099/mgen.0.001267
/content/journal/mgen/10.1099/mgen.0.001267
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