PRJNA278873
Skin microbiome in human volunteers inoculated with H. ducreyi Raw sequence reads
The aim of this project was to investigate the interaction of the skin microbiome and Haemophilus ducreyi during experimental infection of human volunteers. We hypothesized that the skin microbiome influences susceptibility to H. ducreyi infection and that infection with H. ducreyi causes changes in the skin microbiome. To address these hypotheses, we collected skin swab samples prior to inoculation with H. ducreyi, at Days 1, 2 and 5 post-inoculation, at clinical endpoint, and at the test of cure visit. Samples from four dose-matched pairs of volunteers that either resolved the infection or formed pustules were subjected to barcoded amplification and pyrosequencing of the V1-V3 region of bacterial 16S rRNA genes. We compared alpha and beta diversity measurements of the microbiomes of resolvers and pustule formers, and determined signature bacteria that were associated with infection resolution or pustule formation.