Abstract
Prior research into the bacterium Gardnerella vaginalis has largely focused on its association with bacterial vaginosis (BV). However, G. vaginalis is also frequently found within the urinary microbiota of women with and without lower urinary tract symptoms as well as individuals with chronic kidney disease, interstitial cystitis, and BV.
Highlights
Gardnerella is a frequent member of the urogenital microbiota
This prompted our investigation into Gardnerella from the urinary microbiota and all publicly available Gardnerella genomes from the urogenital tract
This study provides the foundation for future studies of Gardnerella within the urinary tract and its possible contribution to lower urinary tract symptoms
Summary
Gardnerella is a frequent member of the urogenital microbiota. Given the association between Gardnerella vaginalis and bacterial vaginosis (BV), significant efforts have been focused on characterizing this species in the vaginal microbiota. In an effort to characterize the bacterial species of the urinary microbiota, we present here 10 genomes of urinary Gardnerella isolates from women with and without lower urinary tract symptoms These genomes complement those of 22 urinary Gardnerella strains previously isolated and sequenced by our team. G. vaginalis is frequently found within the urinary microbiota of women with and without lower urinary tract symptoms as well as individuals with chronic kidney disease, interstitial cystitis, and BV This prompted our investigation into Gardnerella from the urinary microbiota and all publicly available Gardnerella genomes from the urogenital tract. The most recent whole-genome analysis identified at least 13 separate species/groups within the genus, including the description of three new species in addition to G. vaginalis: G. leopoldii, G. piotii, and G. swidsinskii [13]. Recent work suggests that BV may be a polymicrobial infection that can include multiple different Gardnerella species/groups [19,20,21,22,23]
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