Vaginal Microbiota: Canal vs. C-Section

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What is the Vaginal Mirobiota?

This illustration depicts a three-dimensional (3D), computer-generated image, of a group of Gram-positive, Lactobacillus bacteria. The photo credit for this image belongs to Mary Ellen Sanders, who is a consultant in the area of probiotic microbiology with the International Scientific Association for Probiotics and Prebiotics.

By Racine Ross

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The vaginal microbiota is known to harbor over 250 species of bacteria such as Actinomyces, Bacteroides, Enterobacter, Mollicutes, Proteobacteria, Salmonella, and Streptococcus (2). In 1892, Albert Döderlein became the first researcher to explain the significance of lactic acid-producing bacteria in the vaginal microbiome (2). Since then, research has evolved to determine the most prominent species found in the vagina, the most common disturbance of the vaginal microbiome, the varying microbiota types, how the microbiota affects childbirth, and so much more. In normal function, the vaginal microbiota contains a mixture and balance of bacteria such as those previously mentioned. Although, comprehensive surveys of the vaginal microbiome have proved that Lactobacillus species are among the dominant vaginal bacterial species in a large proportion of women (3).

Lactobacillus

Lactobacilli are gram-positive, rod-shaped, non-spore-forming bacteria that grow well in microaerophilic conditions (4). As a gram-positive firmicute, Lactobacilli have a thick cell wall with a cell envelope consisting of glycosyl chains, an s-layer, peptidoglycan with teichoic acids, and a cell membrane containing membrane specific proteins.

Genome of Lactobacillus acidophilus

The complete genome is composed of a 1.99-Mbp circular chromosome with 34.7% G+C content, or the percentage of guanine-cytosine in the RNA (Figure1). The genome of Lactobacillus acidophilus was sequenced and a total of 1,953 were found in the genome which included 1,844 protein-coding genes, 76 RNA genes, and 33 pseudogenes. There were 4 sets of ribosomal RNA genes which included 5S, 16S, and 23S genes. Additionally, 61 tRNA genes were found as well as three non-coding RNA.

A unique feature of the Lactobacillus acidophilus is a 26-kbp prophage insertion at the chromosomal position 863,940-890,001. This position and location are similar to other Lactobacillus acidophilus genes, with the only difference being the number of proteins encoded in that specific region (9). LA1, a strain of Lactobacillus acidophilus, contains the smallest number of genes, and the genes required for insertion include attL, phage integrase, and attR (9).

Circular map of the Lactobacillus acidophilus LA1 genome. By Chung et al., 2018

Energy Source

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Environmental Interactions

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References

Authored for BIOL 238 Microbiology, taught by Joan Slonczewski, 2022, Kenyon College