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Latest recommendations
Id | Title * | Authors * ▲ | Abstract * | Picture * | Thematic fields * | Recommender | Reviewers | Submission date | |
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04 Jan 2024
![]() Diversity of bacterial symbionts associated with the tropical plant bug Monalonion velezangeli (Hemiptera: Miridae) revealed by high-throughput 16S-rRNA sequencingLucio Navarro-Escalante, Pablo Benavides, Flor Edith Acevedo https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-2022560/v7Shedding light on bacteria associated with an agricultural pest, the tropical plant bug Monalonion velezangeli: a foundational descriptive studyRecommended by Jean-Marie VollandThe paper "Diversity of bacterial symbionts associated with the tropical plant bug Monalonion velezangeli (Hemiptera: Miridae) revealed by high-throughput 16S rRNA sequencing" by Navarro-Escalante et al. (2023) is a valuable contribution to entomological research, particularly in the context of pest management. This descriptive study, while not delving into the functional characterization of the associated bacterial strains, lays an essential groundwork for understanding the bacterial components of the microbiota of this agricultural pest. This study is interesting because it provides new information on insect microbiota, especially in a family for which the knowledge of the diversity of bacterial symbionts is very limited. One of the study's core strengths lies in its exploration and definition of the core microbiota of M. velezangeli, which could serve as a foundation for future research aimed at pest control strategies. The use of 16S rRNA sequencing, despite its known limitations, has enabled the profiling of these bacterial communities. The paper highlights the absence of differences in the bacterial communities associated with the nymph and adult stages of the pest, indicating a stable association of these microbes throughout the insect's life cycle. A standout point in the study is the overwhelming presence of the symbiont Wolbachia, accounting for approximately 92% of the bacterial composition. However, intriguingly, the authors also note the absence of Wolbachia in some individuals, suggesting a more complex dynamic that warrants further investigation. This finding is particularly noteworthy, as it opens up questions about the role of Wolbachia and its impact on the biology and ecology of M. velezangeli. The researchers have carefully addressed all the reviewers’ comments and suggestions. They also addressed a potential bias in their study - the overwhelming presence of Wolbachia - by analyzing the bacterial community after the removal of Wolbachia sequences. This careful approach enriches the study's credibility and ensures a more accurate representation of the pest's microbiota. The identification of potentially culturable strains within the core microbiome represents an interesting perspective of this research. This information could be used in future efforts to develop pest control strategies, particularly those employing paratransgenic approaches. The possibility of manipulating these culturable strains to combat M. velezangeli presents an exciting avenue for sustainable pest management. While the study does not investigate the localization of these associated bacteria, whether in the gut or elsewhere, including potentially in dedicated symbiotic organs, it nevertheless offers a valuable descriptive account. This baseline knowledge will be useful for any subsequent functional or localization studies, which could further unravel the complex interactions between M. velezangeli and its microbial partners. In conclusion, the work of Navarro-Escalante et al. is a notable effort to set the stage for future research into the biology of M. velezangeli and its associated microbiota. The findings from this study provide a good reference point for further investigations aimed at pest's biology and exploring innovative pest control strategies. It also represents a valuable contribution to understanding the basic biology of insect-bacteria interactions.
| Diversity of bacterial symbionts associated with the tropical plant bug *Monalonion velezangeli* (Hemiptera: Miridae) revealed by high-throughput 16S-rRNA sequencing | Lucio Navarro-Escalante, Pablo Benavides, Flor Edith Acevedo | <p>Insects and microbes have developed complex symbiotic relationships that evolutionarily and ecologically play beneficial roles for both, the symbiont and the host. In most Hemiptera insects, bacterial symbionts offer mainly nutritional, defensi... | ![]() | Microbial ecology and environmental microbiology, Microbial symbiosis | Jean-Marie Volland | 2022-10-31 20:31:54 | View | |
12 Apr 2024
Bacterial pathogens dynamic during multi-species infectionsMarie-Anne Barny, Sylvia Thieffry, Christelle Gomes de Faria, Elisa Thebault, Jacques Pedron https://doi.org/10.1101/2023.12.06.570389Unraveling disease ecology: insights from soft rot Pectobacteriaceae co-infectionsRecommended by Clara Torres-Barceló based on reviews by 2 anonymous reviewersFew studies deal with the understanding of disease ecology, especially in the agricultural domain. Soft rot Pectobacteriaceae are major plant pathogens that frequently co-infect potato tubers. Exploring their ecological relationships can provide valuable insights for effective monitoring and preventing disease. The study of Barny et al (2024) explores the dynamics of synthetic communities of soft rot Pectobacterium species (SRP) following in vitro and in vivo inoculations, focusing on the implications for disease development. To delve into co-infection dynamics, the authors constructed mixed populations comprising six strains, with three strains from each of two species. Through inoculations of both liquid cultures and potatoes, they observed outcomes using amplicon sequencing targeting the gapA gene, along with monitoring bacterial population sizes and symptoms on potato tubers. Results reveal intriguing patterns: competition among strains of the same species, cooperation through trophic interactions, and interference due to toxicity. Thanks to a modelling approach, they suggest that the presence of a cheater strain may be favoured when it is associated with an aggressive strain. This finding is crucial for field sampling strategies, as there is a risk that during an outbreak, only the cheater strain may be detected, potentially overlooking the problematic aggressive strain. While the study conducted by Barny et al. (2024) provides valuable insights into strain interactions, it also highlights areas for further exploration to enhance understanding. First, the extent to which different species occupy similar niches in real agricultural scenarios remains unclear. Additionally, comparative genomics analysis on strains and investigating specific gene candidates could offer valuable mechanistic insights into strain dynamics. These areas for future research offer chances to build up our knowledge base in this field and improve how we understand the interactions between bacteria in nature. The implications of the study extend beyond plant pathogens like SRP. Similar scenarios of complex diseases involving closely related species or strains competing within the same niche are observed in human pathogens as well. Reference Barny, M.-A., Thieffry, S., Gomes de Faria, C., Thebault, E., Pedron, J. (2024). Bacterial pathogens dynamic during multi-species infections. https://doi.org/10.1101/2023.12.06.570389
| Bacterial pathogens dynamic during multi-species infections | Marie-Anne Barny, Sylvia Thieffry, Christelle Gomes de Faria, Elisa Thebault, Jacques Pedron | <p>Soft rot Pectobacteriacea (SRP) gathers more than 30 bacterial species that collectively rot a wide range of plants by producing and secreting a large set of plant cell wall degrading enzymes (PCWDEs). Worldwide potato field surveys identified ... | Microbe-microbe and microbe-host interactions, Microbial ecology and environmental microbiology | Clara Torres-Barceló | 2023-12-12 17:54:07 | View | ||
19 Jul 2024
![]() Microbiome turnover during offspring development varies with maternal care, but not moult, in a hemimetabolous insectMarie-Charlotte Cheutin, Manon Boucicot, Joel Meunier https://doi.org/10.1101/2024.03.26.586808Stability in a microbe-insect interactionRecommended by Konstantinos KormasThe degree of fidelity between microbes and their hosts varies considerably among different animal groups but also along the host's developmental stages and depends on the stability of their microbial communities. Cheutin et al. showcase experimentally the stability of whole body bacterial microbiome in a dermapteran insect species, the European earwig Forficula auricularia. The carefully designed experiments, which include a large number of investigated families and the related methodologies along with the data analysis, revealed that the bacterial communities of this insect are highly dynamic during the early developmental stages, but these changes are rather specific to each developmental stage and rather irrelevant to moulting. Some of these changes were reflected in the dominant predicted metabolic pathways. Another important finding of this study was that maternal care of the eggs has a detectable impact on the future shaping of the adult insect bacterial microbiome. The findings of this paper clearly answer its working hypotheses, but they also generate a set of specific novel hypotheses for future studies. These hypotheses are of interest to the general field of animal-microbe interactions and, more specifically, to the driving forces of transmissability of microbes from one generation to the next one. This study also depicts some of the most likely important metabolic pathways in this insect-microbe relationship that could be the focus of future studies with more specific methodologies. References Cheutin M-C, Boucicot M, Meunier J. (2024). Microbiome turnover during offspring development varies with maternal care, but not moult, in a hemimetabolous insect. bioRxiv, ver.3, peer-reviewed and recommended by Peer Community In Microbiology. https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2024.03.26.586808v3 | Microbiome turnover during offspring development varies with maternal care, but not moult, in a hemimetabolous insect | Marie-Charlotte Cheutin, Manon Boucicot, Joel Meunier | <p>The ecological success of insects often depends on their association with beneficial microbes. However, insect development involves repeated moults, which can have dramatic effects on their microbial communities. Here, we investigated whether a... | ![]() | Microbial ecology and environmental microbiology, Microbial physiology, ecophysiology and metabolism, Microbiomes | Konstantinos Kormas | 2024-03-28 12:24:50 | View | |
20 Sep 2023
![]() Transmission of synthetic seed bacterial communities to radish seedlings: impact on microbiota assembly and plant phenotypeMarie Simonin, Anne Preveaux, Coralie Marais, Tiffany Garin, Gontran Arnault, Alain Sarniguet, Matthieu Barret https://doi.org/10.1101/2023.02.14.527860Seed synthetic community matters and its impact on seedling is strain- and not species-dependantRecommended by Sebastien Massart based on reviews by Cindy Morris, Sebastian Pfeilmeier and 1 anonymous reviewerEngineering plant microbiota can improve plant health and growth sustainably. Emergent approaches include rational Synthetic Communities (SynCom) design or soil amendments and specific agricultural practices to shift resident microbiota and to understand its impact (Moreira et al. 2023). In this context, the impact of seed microbiota on the early stages of plant development is becoming an essential topic in the study of plant–microbiota interactions. Behind the well-studied seed-borne pathogens, the seed microbiota can host many other commensal and beneficial organisms that have been neglected in the past. The study of Simonin et al. (2023) applies single isolates and synthetic communities (SynCom) on radish seeds to answer two key questions: what is the role of seed microbiota during the early stages of plant development? How can SynCom influence the seedling health and its microbiota? The study describes an elegant approach to cope with the variability of natural microbiota using SynCom following a gradient of complexity. Overall, the study highlighted a contrasted impact of the bacterial strains when applied in isolation or SynCom. The composition and complexity of the SynCom had also an impact on plant seedlings. Importantly, contrasting evolution from seeds to seedlings was observed for 3 strains of Pseudomonas fluorescens within the SynComs, underlining the importance of intra-species level diversity and precluding any generalization of results at species level. References Moreira, Z. P. M., Chen, M. Y., Ortuno, D. L. Y., & Haney, C. H. (2023). Engineering plant microbiomes by integrating eco-evolutionary principles into current strategies. Current Opinion in Plant Biology, 71, 102316. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pbi.2022.102316 Simonin, M., Préveaux, A., Marais, C., Garin, T., Arnault, G., Sarniguet, A., & Barret, M. (2023). Transmission of synthetic seed bacterial communities to radish seedlings: impact on microbiota assembly and plant phenotype. bioRxiv, 2023-02. ver. 3 peer-reviewed and recommended by Peer Community in Microbiology. https://doi.org/10.1101/2023.02.14.527860 | Transmission of synthetic seed bacterial communities to radish seedlings: impact on microbiota assembly and plant phenotype | Marie Simonin, Anne Preveaux, Coralie Marais, Tiffany Garin, Gontran Arnault, Alain Sarniguet, Matthieu Barret | <p style="text-align: justify;">Seed-borne microorganisms can be pioneer taxa during germination and seedling emergence. Still, the identity and phenotypic effects of these taxa that constitute a primary inoculum of plant microbiota is mostly unkn... | ![]() | Microbe-microbe and microbe-host interactions, Microbial ecology and environmental microbiology, Microbiomes | Sebastien Massart | 2023-02-15 10:27:26 | View | |
29 Aug 2023
![]() Comparison of metabarcoding taxonomic markers to describe fungal communities in fermented foodsOlivier Rué, Monika Coton, Eric Dugat-Bony, Kate Howell, Françoise Irlinger, Jean-Luc Legras, Valentin Loux, Elisa Michel, Jérôme Mounier, Cécile Neuvéglise, Delphine Sicard https://doi.org/10.1101/2023.01.13.523754Towards a more accurate metabarcoding approach for studying fungal communities of fermented foodsRecommended by Caroline Strub based on reviews by Johannes Schweichhart and 2 anonymous reviewersImproved characterization of food microbial ecosystems, especially those fermented is key to the development of food sustainability. Short-read metabarcoding is one of the most popular ways to study microbial communities. However, this approach remains complex because of the locks and biases it may entail particularly when applied to fungal communities. Building and using four mock communities from fermented food (bread, wine, cheese, fermented meat), Rué et al., 2023 demonstrate that combined DADA2 denoising algorithm followed to the FROGS tools gives a more accurate description of fungal communities compared to several commonly used bioinformatic workflows, dealing with all amplicon lengths. Moreover, Rué et al., 2023 provide guidance on which barcode to use (ITS1, ITS2, D1/D2 and RPB2), depending on the fermented food studied. Practices in metabarcoding of fungi have been recently reviewed by Tedersoo et al., 2022 and their synthesis comes to the same conclusion as Rué et al., 2023. As the reference databases are far from being complete notably for food ecosystems, the development of specific sequences public databases will enable the scientific community to lift the veil on this whole area of microbial ecology. The study conducted by Rué et al. (2023) provides a particularly detailed approach from a technical point of view, which contributes to improving the general practices in the metabarcoding of fungi. The design and the use of mock communities to compare the performances of the different pipelines is a strong point of this study. Another key element is the creation and use of an in-house database of fungal barcode sequences which improved the species-level affiliations However, the study of fungal communities by metabarcoding is still a promising avenue of research in agri-food sciences. Thus, short-read sequencing, combined with suitable pipelines and databases, should remain of interest to the microbial ecology community (Pauvert et al., 2019; Furneaux et al., 2021). References Furneaux, B., Bahram, M., Rosling, A., Yorou, N. S., & Ryberg, M. (2021). Long‐and short‐read metabarcoding technologies reveal similar spatiotemporal structures in fungal communities. Molecular Ecology Resources, 21(6), 1833-1849. https://doi.org/10.1111/1755-0998.13387 Pauvert, C., Buée, M., Laval, V., Edel-Hermann, V., Fauchery, L., Gautier, A., ... & Vacher, C. (2019). Bioinformatics matters: The accuracy of plant and soil fungal community data is highly dependent on the metabarcoding pipeline. Fungal Ecology, 41, 23-33. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.funeco.2019.03.005 Rué, O., Coton, M., Dugat-Bony, E., Howell, K., Irlinger, F., Legras, J. L., ... & Sicard, D. (2023). Comparison of metabarcoding taxonomic markers to describe fungal communities in fermented foods. BioRxiv, 2023-0113.523754, ver.3 peer-reviewed and recommended by Peer Community in Microbiology. https://doi.org/10.1101/2023.01.13.523754 Tedersoo, L., Bahram, M., Zinger, L., Nilsson, R. H., Kennedy, P. G., Yang, T., ... & Mikryukov, V. (2022). Best practices in metabarcoding of fungi: From experimental design to results. Molecular ecology, 31(10), 2769-2795. https://doi.org/10.1111/mec.16460 | Comparison of metabarcoding taxonomic markers to describe fungal communities in fermented foods | Olivier Rué, Monika Coton, Eric Dugat-Bony, Kate Howell, Françoise Irlinger, Jean-Luc Legras, Valentin Loux, Elisa Michel, Jérôme Mounier, Cécile Neuvéglise, Delphine Sicard | <p>Next generation sequencing offers several ways to study microbial communities. For agri-food sciences, identifying species in diverse food ecosystems is key for both food sustainability and food security. The aim of this study was to compare me... | ![]() | Bioinformatics dedicated to microbial studies | Caroline Strub | 2023-01-20 12:37:03 | View | |
09 May 2023
![]() Interactions between Mycoplasma mycoides subsp. mycoides and bovine macrophages under physiological conditionsPhilippe Totté, Tiffany Bonnefois, Lucia Manso-Silvan https://doi.org/10.1101/2022.12.06.519279Interaction of bovine macrophages with Mycoplasma mycoides subsp. mycoidesRecommended by Pablo Zunino based on reviews by 2 anonymous reviewersMycoplasma mycoides subsp. mycoides (Mmm), a pathogenic wall-less bacterium, is the etiological agent of contagious bovine pleuropneumonia (CBPP). This highly contagious respiratory disease may develop in severe pneumonia, with associated high mortality rates in cattle. Mmm can display different immune evasion mechanisms; in addition, a host uncontrolled inflammatory response stands for lung lesions and chronic carrier animals. Macrophages are among the most important lines of defense against Mmm of the lower respiratory tract. Although their importance in defense and immune response modulation is known, results about their role and mechanisms of action are scarce and sometimes conflicting. In the present study, Totté et al. (1) aimed to investigate the interaction of bovine macrophages (isolated from cattle peripheral blood mononuclear cells) with Mmm, under in vitro conditions. The authors highlight that the study was performed under physiological conditions (in the presence of complement prepared from the same cell donor). In their study, using different approaches, the authors provide interesting and original results, proposing a pivotal role of complement in controlling the inflammatory response, which is crucial in the CBPP pathogenesis. The authors reported that macrophages did not kill Mmm in the presence of a non-bactericidal concentration of bovine serum. However, Mmm inactivation was observed when antiserum from CBPP convalescent animals was used. They also observed that Mmm induced the production of TNF by macrophages (when a high MOI was assessed). However, complement could even abolish Mmm-induced TNF response when used at bactericidal activity concentrations. This role of complement could be combined with the development of potentially protective antibodies against particular Mmm antigens involved in the interaction with identified macrophage receptors to propose control strategies against CBPP. Overall, the study by Totté et al. provides new fundamental insight for the research on preventive or therapeutic strategies for a poorly understood disease that still represents a serious concern for livestock production. REFERENCES 1. Totté, P., Bonnefois, T., Manso-Silván, L. Interactions between Mycoplasma mycoides subsp. mycoides and bovine macrophages under physiological conditions. bioRxiv 2022.12.06.519279, ver. 2 peer-reviewed and recommended by Peer Community In Microbiology. https://doi.org/10.1101/2022.12.06.519279 | Interactions between *Mycoplasma mycoides* subsp. *mycoides* and bovine macrophages under physiological conditions | Philippe Totté, Tiffany Bonnefois, Lucia Manso-Silvan | <p style="text-align: justify;">We investigated the interactions of unopsonized and opsonized *Mycoplasma mycoides* subsp. *mycoides* (Mmm) with bovine macrophages *in vitro*. Mmm survived and proliferated extracellularly on bovine macrophage cell... | ![]() | Microbe-microbe and microbe-host interactions | Pablo Zunino | Anonymous, Anonymous | 2022-12-09 15:12:53 | View |
21 Nov 2024
![]() The effect of dietary fish oil replacement by microalgae on the gilthead sea bream midgut bacterial microbiotaStefanos Katsoulis-Dimitriou, Eleni Nikouli, Elli-Zafeiria Gkalogianni, Ioannis Karapanagiotidis, Konstantinos Kormas https://doi.org/10.1101/2024.01.24.576938Insights on the gilthead sea bream midgut microbiota adaptation to three types of microalgal-based dietsRecommended by Angélique GobetIn fed aquaculture, fishes are commonly fed with a fish-oil based diet mostly coming from captured fishes. This is one main global issue leading to overfishing of wild species (Cashion et al., 2017; Tacon & Metian, 2008). Several alternatives in lipid sources for fish diet have been tested and promising alternatives such as plants (e.g. rapeseed oil) or microalgae (e.g. Schizochytrium sp.) have been identified (Pérez-Pascual et al., 2020). Like other animals, fishes’ digestive tract is composed of a microbiota whose composition is linked to the host physiological state as well as its diet (Yukgehnaish et al., 2020). In reared fishes such as the European sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax), replacing fish oil by other sources such as microalgae in their diet has been shown to modify the digestive microbiota composition (Pérez-Pascual et al., 2020). Here, the aim of Katsoulis-Dimitriou et al. (2024), was to test the effect of three dietary microalgae blends on the midgut microbiota composition of the reared fishes. The authors compared the effect of a control diet (i.e. with only fish oil as lipid source, namely, FO) with that of three experimental diets with two thirds of the fish oil replaced by either a mixture of the microalgae Microchloropsis gaditana and Isochrysis sp. (now known as Tisochrysis lutea, MI), Phaeodactylum tricornutum and Isochrysis sp. (PI) or Schizochytrium sp. and P. tricornutum (SP). For each diet, 25 fishes were reared in each of the triplicated tanks and, after 80 days of experiment, a total of 10 fishes per diet were sampled. DNA was extracted from the midgut part of the intestine and a 16S rDNA-based metabarcoding approach was conducted to survey the associated bacterial community. Each diet type, FO, MI, PI and SP, was mostly characterized by a composition of specific abundant OTUs, indicating the clear influence of the oil composition on the digestive microbiota. When feeding with the MI diet, the authors also highlighted the presence of some candidate genera (e.g. Pseudoalteromonas, Pseudomonas, Bacillus and Rhodopseudomonas) as potential probiotics for fish aquaculture. Finally, in comparison to the fish oil diet, a predictive metabolic analysis of the bacterial community could suggest a differential expression of some polysaccharide metabolisms with the microalgae-based diets, highlighting a probable diet-based effect on the microbiota functioning. The work from Katsoulis-Dimitriou et al. (2024) completes the current knowledge on using sustainable alternatives to traditional fish feed and its effect on the digestive microbiota composition of fishes. This work also opens new ways to be explored considering the enrichment of potential probiotics using microalgae-base diets. Further analyses testing specific functional approaches (e.g. transcriptomics, metabolomics) may allow completing the understanding of the gut microbiota functioning linked to diet composition. Finally, measurements on fish biometrics in a similar experiment should help understanding the contribution of a microalgal-diet to fish fitness. References Cashion, T., Le Manach, F., Zeller, D., & Pauly, D. (2017). Most fish destined for fishmeal production are food‐grade fish. Fish and Fisheries, 18(5), 837–844. https://doi.org/10.1111/faf.12209 Katsoulis-Dimitriou, S., Nikouli, E., Gkalogianni, E., Karapanagiotidis, I., Kormas, K. (2024) The effect of dietary fish oil replacement by microalgae on the gilthead sea bream midgut bacterial microbiota. BioRxiv, ver.3 peer-reviewed and recommended by PCI Microbiol https://doi.org/10.1101/2024.01.24.576938 Pérez-Pascual, D., Estellé, J., Dutto, G., Rodde, C., Bernardet, J.-F., Marchand, Y., Duchaud, E., Przybyla, C., & Ghigo, J.-M. (2020). Growth Performance and Adaptability of European Sea Bass (Dicentrarchus labrax) Gut Microbiota to Alternative Diets Free of Fish Products. Microorganisms, 8(9), 1346. https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms8091346 Tacon, A. G. J., & Metian, M. (2008). Global overview on the use of fish meal and fish oil in industrially compounded aquafeeds: Trends and future prospects. Aquaculture, 285(1–4), 146–158. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aquaculture.2008.08.015 Yukgehnaish, K., Kumar, P., Sivachandran, P., Marimuthu, K., Arshad, A., Paray, B. A., & Arockiaraj, J. (2020). Gut microbiota metagenomics in aquaculture: Factors influencing gut microbiome and its physiological role in fish. Reviews in Aquaculture, 12(3), 1903–1927. https://doi.org/10.1111/raq.12416
| The effect of dietary fish oil replacement by microalgae on the gilthead sea bream midgut bacterial microbiota | Stefanos Katsoulis-Dimitriou, Eleni Nikouli, Elli-Zafeiria Gkalogianni, Ioannis Karapanagiotidis, Konstantinos Kormas | <p> It is well known that the gut microbiome and its interaction with the host influence several important factors for fish health such as nutrition and metabolism. Diet is one of the main factors influencing the composition of the gut microb... | ![]() | Microbe-microbe and microbe-host interactions, Microbial symbiosis, Microbiomes | Angélique Gobet | 2024-01-25 18:09:56 | View | |
21 Jan 2025
![]() Factors shaping vaginal microbiota long-term community dynamics in young adult womenTsukushi Kamiya, Nicolas Tessandier, Baptiste Elie, Claire Bernat, Vanina Boue, Sophie Grasset, Soraya Groc, Massilva Rahmoun, Christian Selinger, Michael S. Humphrys, Marine Bonneau, Vincent Foulongne, Christelle Graf, Jacques Reynes, Vincent Tribout, Michel Segondy, Nathalie Boulle, Jacques Ravel, Carmen Lia Murall, Samuel Alizon https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2024.04.08.24305448v3Elucidating microbial community transitions within the human vaginal environmentRecommended by Rafael Muñoz-TamayoThe human vaginal microbiota plays a key role in urogenital health. Enhancing our understanding of the dynamics of the vaginal microbiota can provide valuable insights for maintaining health and design strategies to prevent urogenital diseases. Health status evolves over time. The work by Kamiya et al. (2024) addressed the dynamic interplay between vaginal microbiota and health using a robust, high-resolution longitudinal cohort of 125 reproductive-aged women, followed for a median duration of 8.6 months in Montpellier, France. The participants were recruited within the PAPCLEAR study, which aimed to better understand the course and natural history of human papillomaviruses infections in healthy, young women (Murall et al. 2019). Each participant contributed at least three vaginal samples, from which microbiota barcoding was performed. The vaginal microbiota was clustered using the approach developed by Ravel et al. (2011) which categorizes microbial communities in 5 community state types with varying health implications. Transitions between community states were estimated using a hierarchical Bayesian Markov model. These transitions were associated with 16 covariates covering lifestyle, sexual practices and medication. This hierarchical approach allowed for the quantification of individual differences among women. The study characterized the stability of vaginal microbial communities and identified alcohol consumption as the strongest covariate driving community transitions. The results indicated that alcohol consumption promotes non-optimal communities. The modelling approach, however, indicated that individual variability among the women was not fully accounted for by the selected 16 covariates, suggesting the need to explore additional key factors, including dynamic covariates. The authors clearly identified several potential limitations of the study, including the variability associated to home sampling, the resolution of the microbial categories, and the impact of the clustering method on the analysis. My decision to recommend this manuscript is supported by the solid and rigorous analysis of the study, strengthened by the clear presentation of methods, data and analysis. While applying advanced computational techniques, the authors provide a solid biological interpretation of their results. This work makes a substantial contribution by expanding the understanding of vaginal microbiota dynamics and its interplay with health. It sets a framework for further evaluation of strategies aimed at promoting vaginal health. Moreover, it presents a generic methodology that could be applied to other microbial ecosystems. References Kamiya T, Tessandier N, Elie B, Bernat C, Boué V, Grasset S, Groc S, Rahmoun M, Selinger C, Humphrys MS, Bonneau M, Graf C, Foulongne V, Reynes J, Tribout V, Segondy M, Boulle N, Ravel J, Murall CL, Alizon S (2024) Factors shaping vaginal microbiota long-term community dynamics in young adult women. medRxiv, 2024.04.08.24305448, ver.3 peer-reviewed and recommended by PCI Microbiol. https://doi.org/10.1101/2024.04.08.24305448 Murall CL, Rahmoun M, Selinger C, Baldellou M, Bernat C, Bonneau M, Boué V, Buisson M, Christophe G, D’Auria G, Taroni F De, Foulongne V, Froissart R, Graf C, Grasset S, Groc S, Hirtz C, Jaussent A, Lajoie J, Lorcy F, Picot E, Picot MC, Ravel J, Reynes J, Rousset T, Seddiki A, Teirlinck M, Tribout V, Tuaillon É, Waterboer T, Jacobs N, Bravo IG, Segondy M, Boulle N, Alizon S (2019) Natural history, dynamics, and ecology of human papillomaviruses in genital infections of young women: protocol of the PAPCLEAR cohort study. BMJ Open, 9, e025129. https://doi.org/10.1136/BMJOPEN-2018-025129 Ravel J, Gajer P, Abdo Z, Schneider GM, Koenig SSK, McCulle SL, Karlebach S, Gorle R, Russell J, Tacket CO, Brotman RM, Davis CC, Ault K, Peralta L, Forney LJ (2011) Vaginal microbiome of reproductive-age women. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 108. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1002611107
| Factors shaping vaginal microbiota long-term community dynamics in young adult women | Tsukushi Kamiya, Nicolas Tessandier, Baptiste Elie, Claire Bernat, Vanina Boue, Sophie Grasset, Soraya Groc, Massilva Rahmoun, Christian Selinger, Michael S. Humphrys, Marine Bonneau, Vincent Foulongne, Christelle Graf, Jacques Reynes, Vincent Tri... | <p>The vaginal microbiota is known to affect women’s health. Yet, there is a notable paucity of high-resolution follow-up studies lasting several months, which would be required to interrogate the long-term dynamics and associations with demograph... | ![]() | Mathematical modeling of microbial processes and ecosystems, Microbe-microbe and microbe-host interactions, Microbial ecology and environmental microbiology, Microbiomes | Rafael Muñoz-Tamayo | Simon Labarthe, Anonymous | 2024-09-02 17:27:41 | View |
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