title: Assessing Airway Microbiota in Cystic Fibrosis: What More Should Be Done?
abstract: The use of culture-independent methods has deepened our appreciation of the complexity of the bacterial communities that typically reside in the airways of persons with cystic fibrosis (CF). New insights into how changes in the structure of these communities relate to lung disease progression will likely raise expectations for more in-depth microbiologic analysis of CF respiratory specimens. An article in this issue of the Journal of Clinical Microbiology (W. G. Flight, A. Smith, C. Paisey, J. R. Marchesi, M. J. Bull, P. J. Norville, K. J. Mutton, A. K. Webb, R. J. Bright-Thomas, A. M. Jones, and E. Mahenthiralingam, J Clin Microbiol 53:2022-2029, 2015, http://dx.doi.org/10.1128/JCM.00432-15) describes the application of a culture-independent approach to the assessment of CF airway microbiota.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics and Communicable Diseases, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA jlipuma@umich.edu.
authors.forename: John J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: LiPuma
mesh_terms: D001419:Bacteria / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D044822:Biodiversity; D003550:Cystic Fibrosis / Q000150:complications*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D025202:Molecular Diagnostic Techniques / Q000379:methods*; D018410:Pneumonia, Bacterial / Q000175:diagnosis*; D013183:Sputum / Q000382:microbiology*