Vaginal Microbial Dynamics and Pathogen Colonization in a Humanized Microbiota Mouse Model

Authors

Marlyd E Mejia
Vicki Mercado-Evans
Jacob J Zulk
Samantha Ottinger
Korinna Ruiz
Mallory B Ballard
Stephanie W Fowler
Robert A Britton
Kathryn A Patras

Publication Date

11-20-2023

Journal

npj Biofilms and Microbiomes

DOI

10.1038/s41522-023-00454-9

PMID

37985659

PMCID

PMC10661851

PubMedCentral® Posted Date

11-20-2023

PubMedCentral® Full Text Version

Post-print

Published Open-Access

yes

Keywords

Humans, Female, Animals, Mice, RNA, Ribosomal, 16S, Escherichia coli, Mice, Inbred C57BL, Vagina, Microbiota, Disease Models, Animal, Streptococcus agalactiae, Microbiome, Pathogens

Abstract

Vaginal microbial composition is associated with differential risk of urogenital infection. Although Lactobacillus spp. are thought to confer protection against infection, the lack of in vivo models resembling the human vaginal microbiota remains a prominent barrier to mechanistic discovery. Using 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing of C57BL/6J female mice, we found that vaginal microbial composition varies within and between colonies across three vivaria. Noting vaginal microbial plasticity in conventional mice, we assessed the vaginal microbiome of humanized microbiota mice (

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