title: Chlamydia caviae infection alters abundance but not composition of the guinea pig vaginal microbiota.
abstract: In humans, the vaginal microbiota is thought to be the first line of defense again pathogens including Chlamydia trachomatis. The guinea pig has been extensively used as a model to study chlamydial infection because it shares anatomical and physiological similarities with humans, such as a squamous vaginal epithelium as well as some of the long-term outcomes caused by chlamydial infection. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the guinea pig-C. caviae model of genital infection as a surrogate for studying the role of the vaginal microbiota in the early steps of C. trachomatis infection in humans. We used culture-independent molecular methods to characterize the relative and absolute abundance of bacterial phylotypes in the guinea pig vaginal microbiota in animals non-infected, mock-infected or infected by C. caviae. We showed that the guinea pig and human vaginal microbiotas are of different bacterial composition and abundance. Chlamydia caviae infection had a profound effect on the absolute abundance of bacterial phylotypes but not on the composition of the guinea pig vaginal microbiota. Our findings compromise the validity of the guinea pig-C. caviae model to study the role of the vaginal microbiota during the early steps of sexually transmitted infection.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Genome Sciences, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21201, USA.
authors.forename: Elizabeth
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Neuendorf
authors.affiliation: Institute for Genome Sciences, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21201, USA Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21201, USA.
authors.forename: Pawel
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Gajer
authors.affiliation: Arkansas Children's Hospital Research Institute, Little Rock, AR 72202, USA.
authors.forename: Anne K
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Bowlin
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbial Pathogenesis, University of Maryland School of Dentistry, Baltimore, MD 21201, USA.
authors.forename: Patricia X
authors.initials: PX
authors.lastname: Marques
authors.affiliation: Institute for Genome Sciences, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21201, USA Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21201, USA.
authors.forename: Bing
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.affiliation: Institute for Genome Sciences, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21201, USA.
authors.forename: Hongqiu
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Institute for Genome Sciences, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21201, USA.
authors.forename: Li
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Fu
authors.affiliation: Institute for Genome Sciences, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21201, USA.
authors.forename: Michael S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Humphrys
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences, Institute for Bioinformatics and Evolutionary Studies (IBEST), University of Idaho, Moscow, ID 83843, USA.
authors.forename: Larry J
authors.initials: LJ
authors.lastname: Forney
authors.affiliation: Institute for Genome Sciences, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21201, USA Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21201, USA.
authors.forename: Garry S A
authors.initials: GS
authors.lastname: Myers
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences, Institute for Bioinformatics and Evolutionary Studies (IBEST), University of Idaho, Moscow, ID 83843, USA.
authors.forename: Patrik M
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: Bavoil
authors.affiliation: Arkansas Children's Hospital Research Institute, Little Rock, AR 72202, USA.
authors.forename: Roger G
authors.initials: RG
authors.lastname: Rank
authors.affiliation: Institute for Genome Sciences, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21201, USA Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21201, USA jravel@som.umaryland.edu.
authors.forename: Jacques
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ravel
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002690:Chlamydia Infections / Q000382:microbiology*; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D005260:Female; D006168:Guinea Pigs; D064307:Microbiota; D060737:Reproductive Tract Infections / Q000382:microbiology*; D014621:Vagina / Q000382:microbiology*
keywords: Chlamydia trachomatis; Lactobacillus; microbiome; model organism; vagina