Yutong Kang1,2,3, Shudan Lin3, Xueli Ma1,2, Yanlin Che3, Yiju Chen3, Tian Wan1,2, Die Zhang3, Jiao Shao1,2, Jie Xu1,2, Yi Xu1,2, Yongliang Lou4, Meiqin Zheng5,6,7. 1. Eye Hospital and School of Ophthalmology and Optometry, Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, Zhejiang, China. 2. National Clinical Research Center for Ocular Diseases, Wenzhou, Zhejiang, China. 3. Wenzhou Key Laboratory of Sanitary Microbiology, Key Laboratory of Laboratory Medicine, Ministry of Education, School of Laboratory Medicine and Life Sciences, Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, Zhejiang, 325035, China. 4. Wenzhou Key Laboratory of Sanitary Microbiology, Key Laboratory of Laboratory Medicine, Ministry of Education, School of Laboratory Medicine and Life Sciences, Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, Zhejiang, 325035, China. louyongliang2013@163.com. 5. Eye Hospital and School of Ophthalmology and Optometry, Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, Zhejiang, China. zmq@eye.ac.cn. 6. National Clinical Research Center for Ocular Diseases, Wenzhou, Zhejiang, China. zmq@eye.ac.cn. 7. Wenzhou Key Laboratory of Sanitary Microbiology, Key Laboratory of Laboratory Medicine, Ministry of Education, School of Laboratory Medicine and Life Sciences, Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, Zhejiang, 325035, China. zmq@eye.ac.cn.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: There is growing evidence indicating that the microbial communities that dwell on the human ocular surface are crucially important for ocular surface health and disease. Little is known about interspecies interactions, functional profiles, and strain heterogeneity across individuals in healthy ocular surface microbiomes. METHODS: To comprehensively characterize the strain heterogeneity, cooccurrence network, taxonomic composition and functional profile of the healthy ocular surface microbiome, we performed shotgun metagenomics sequencing on ocular surface mucosal membrane swabs of 17 healthy volunteers. RESULTS: The healthy ocular surface microbiome was classified into 12 phyla, 70 genera, and 140 species. The number of species in each healthy ocular surface microbiome ranged from 6 to 47, indicating differences in microbial diversity among individuals. The species with high relative abundances and high positivity rates were Streptococcus pyogenes, Staphylococcus epidermidis, Propionibacterium acnes, Corynebacterium accolens, and Enhydrobacter aerosaccus. A correlation network analysis revealed a competitive interaction of Staphylococcus epidermidis with Streptococcus pyogenes in ocular surface microbial ecosystems. Staphylococcus epidermidis and Streptococcus pyogenes revealed phylogenetic diversity among different individuals. At the functional level, the pathways related to transcription were the most abundant. We also found that there were abundant lipid and amino acid metabolism pathways in the healthy ocular surface microbiome. CONCLUSION: This study explored the strain heterogeneity, cooccurrence network, taxonomic composition, and functional profile of the healthy ocular surface microbiome. These findings have important significance for the future development of probiotic-based eye therapeutic drugs.
BACKGROUND: There is growing evidence indicating that the microbial communities that dwell on the human ocular surface are crucially important for ocular surface health and disease. Little is known about interspecies interactions, functional profiles, and strain heterogeneity across individuals in healthy ocular surface microbiomes. METHODS: To comprehensively characterize the strain heterogeneity, cooccurrence network, taxonomic composition and functional profile of the healthy ocular surface microbiome, we performed shotgun metagenomics sequencing on ocular surface mucosal membrane swabs of 17 healthy volunteers. RESULTS: The healthy ocular surface microbiome was classified into 12 phyla, 70 genera, and 140 species. The number of species in each healthy ocular surface microbiome ranged from 6 to 47, indicating differences in microbial diversity among individuals. The species with high relative abundances and high positivity rates were Streptococcus pyogenes, Staphylococcus epidermidis, Propionibacterium acnes, Corynebacterium accolens, and Enhydrobacter aerosaccus. A correlation network analysis revealed a competitive interaction of Staphylococcus epidermidis with Streptococcus pyogenes in ocular surface microbial ecosystems. Staphylococcus epidermidis and Streptococcus pyogenes revealed phylogenetic diversity among different individuals. At the functional level, the pathways related to transcription were the most abundant. We also found that there were abundant lipid and amino acid metabolism pathways in the healthy ocular surface microbiome. CONCLUSION: This study explored the strain heterogeneity, cooccurrence network, taxonomic composition, and functional profile of the healthy ocular surface microbiome. These findings have important significance for the future development of probiotic-based eye therapeutic drugs.
Authors: Aaron Y Lee; Lakshmi Akileswaran; Michael D Tibbetts; Sunir J Garg; Russell N Van Gelder Journal: Ophthalmology Date: 2014-11-24 Impact factor: 12.079