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In a recent study published in the journal mSystems , researchers investigate the richness of Gardnerella species and clades in the vaginal microbiome of pregnant women and their impact on premature delivery. Study: Gardnerella diversity and ecology in pregnancy and preterm birth . Image Credit: Kateryna Kon / Shutterstock.

com Certain vaginal microbiota species have been associated with unfavorable health consequences such as sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), cervical cancer, premature delivery, and bacterial vaginosis. For example, the Gardnerella species has been recognized as a risk factor for several disorders. Gardnerella generates sialidase, which degrades protective mucins in the vagina and increases host inflammatory responses.



However, Gardnerella may be present in various amounts in the vagina without causing any symptoms or disease. In the current study, researchers create a computer technique for identifying Gardnerella clades and species in vaginal microbiomes, in addition to evaluating the abundance of Gardnerella in association with preterm births. To this end, the relative abundances of Gardnerella clades, genomic species, and other taxa were determined using shotgun metagenomic sequences obtained from pregnant female cohorts.

Samples were obtained from study participants in the Multi-Omic Microbiome Study: Pregnancy Initiative (MOMS-PI), UAB-enriched, and Stanford-enriched cohorts, which provided 781, 45, and 62 samples from 231, 15, and 20 individuals, r.

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