title: Fine-scale analysis of 16S rRNA sequences reveals a high level of taxonomic diversity among vaginal Atopobium spp.
abstract: Although vaginal microbial communities of some healthy women have high proportions of Atopobium vaginae, the genus Atopobium is more commonly associated with bacterial vaginosis, a syndrome associated with an increased risk of adverse pregnancy outcomes and the transmission of sexually transmitted diseases. Genetic differences within Atopobium species may explain why single species can be associated with both health and disease. We used 16S rRNA gene sequences from previously published studies to explore the taxonomic diversity of the genus Atopobium in vaginal microbial communities of healthy women. Although A. vaginae was the species most commonly found, we also observed three other Atopobium species in the vaginal microbiota, one of which, A. parvulum, was not previously known to reside in the human vagina. Furthermore, we found several potential novel species of the genus Atopobium and multiple phylogenetic clades of A. vaginae. The diversity of Atopobium found in our study, which focused only on samples from healthy women, is greater than previously recognized, suggesting that analysis of samples from women with BV would yield even more diversity. Classification of microbes only to the genus level may thus obfuscate differences that might be important to better understand health or disease.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences and Institute for Bioinformatics and Evolutionary Studies, University of Idaho, Moscow ID 83844, USA.
authors.forename: Helena
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Mendes-Soares
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences and Institute for Bioinformatics and Evolutionary Studies, University of Idaho, Moscow ID 83844, USA.
authors.forename: Vandhana
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Krishnan
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences and Institute for Bioinformatics and Evolutionary Studies, University of Idaho, Moscow ID 83844, USA.
authors.forename: Matthew L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Settles
authors.affiliation: Institute for Genome Sciences, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore MD 21201, USA.
authors.forename: Jacques
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ravel
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences and Institute for Bioinformatics and Evolutionary Studies, University of Idaho, Moscow ID 83844, USA celesteb@uidaho.edu.
authors.forename: Celeste J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Brown
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences and Institute for Bioinformatics and Evolutionary Studies, University of Idaho, Moscow ID 83844, USA.
authors.forename: Larry J
authors.initials: LJ
authors.lastname: Forney
mesh_terms: D039903:Actinobacteria / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics*; D019295:Computational Biology; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D004275:DNA, Ribosomal / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D005260:Female; D014644:Genetic Variation; D064368:Healthy Volunteers; D006801:Humans; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S / Q000235:genetics; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D014621:Vagina / Q000382:microbiology*
chemical_list: D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D004275:DNA, Ribosomal; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S
keywords: Atopobium; genetic diversity; vaginal microbiome