This repository contains details in support of the submitted manuscript entitled, "Evidence that vertical transmission of the vaginal microbiota can persist into adolescence" by Christine M. Bassis, Kaylie A. Bullock, Daniel E. Sack, Katie Saund, Ali Pirani, Evan S. Snitkin, Veronica I. Alaniz, Elisabeth H. Quint, Vincent B. Young and Jason D. Bell.
This repository includes:
-
the mothur batch file with steps used to process and analyze 16S rRNA gene sequences
-
mothur output files used in final bacterial community analysis and figures
-
R code for manuscript figures, statistics and genomic analysis
Background: Factors that influence vaginal microbiota composition, including its source, are not well understood. To determine if vaginal microbiota transmission from mother to daughter at birth influences the human vaginal microbiota composition in adolescence, we investigated the relationship between the vaginal microbiota of 13 mother/daughter pairs and the daughter’s birth mode.
Results: Based on analysis of bacterial 16S rRNA gene sequences, the vaginal microbiotas of mother/daughter pairs were more similar to each other if the daughter was born by vaginal delivery rather than by C-section. Additionally, genome sequences from an important member of the vaginal microbiota, Lactobacillus crispatus, isolated from one mother/daughter pair in which the daughter was born by vaginal delivery, were highly similar.
Conclusions: Both community-level analysis and isolate genome sequence analysis provide evidence of birth-mode dependent transmission and persistence of at least some members of the vaginal microbiota.
Bacterial 16S rRNA gene sequences: NCBI BioProject PRJNA547595
Lactobacillus crispatus genome sequences: NCBI BioProject PRJNA547620
Christine M. Bassis ([email protected]), Kaylie A. Bullock and Katie Saund contributed to this code. Please email [email protected] with questions.