Journal Article

Exploring the female genital tract mycobiome in young South African women using metaproteomics

Dabee, Smritee, Mulder, Nicola, Masson, Lindi, Passmore, Jo-Ann S., Ross, Elizabeth, Blackburn, Jonathan M., Allali, Imane, Bell, Liam, Tabb, David L., Gangiah, Tamlyn K., Barnabas, Shaun, Iranzadeh, Arash, McDonald, Zac, Jaspan, Heather B., Bekker, Linda-Gail, Potgieter, Matthys, Alisoltani, Arghavan

2025

Overview

Background Female genital tract (FGT) diseases such as bacterial vaginosis (BV) and sexually transmitted infections are prevalent in South Africa, with young women being at an increased risk. Since imbalances in the FGT microbiome are associated with FGT diseases, it is vital to investigate the factors that influence FGT health. The mycobiome plays an important role in regulating mucosal health, especially when the bacterial component is disturbed. However, we have a limited understanding of the FGT mycobiome since many studies have focused on bacterial communities and have neglected low-abundance taxonomic groups, such as fungi. To reduce this knowledge deficit, we present the first large-scale metaproteomic study to define the taxonomic composition and potential functional processes of the FGT mycobiome in South African reproductive-age women. Results We examined FGT fungal communities present in 123 women by collecting lateral vaginal wall swabs for liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. From this, 39 different fungal genera were identified, with Candida dominating the mycobiome (53.2% relative abundance). We observed changes in relative abundance at the protein, genus, and functional (gene ontology biological processes) level between BV states. In women with BV, Malassezia and Conidiobolus proteins were more abundant, while Candida proteins were less abundant compared to BV-negative women. Correspondingly, Nugent scores were negatively associated with total fungal protein abundance. The clinical variables, Nugent score, pro-inflammatory cytokines, chemokines, vaginal pH, Chlamydia trachomatis , and the presence of clue cells were associated with fungal community composition. Conclusions The results of this study revealed the diversity of FGT fungal communities, setting the groundwork for understanding the FGT mycobiome. -WgVkTUVMn1xysf-XxHxoj Video Abstract

• Publisher: BioMed Central,BioMed Central Ltd,BMC
• Subject: Adolescent / Adult / Antifungal agents / Bacterial vaginosis / Bioinformatics / Biomedical and Life Sciences / Biomedicine / Disease transmission / Female / Female genital tract / Fungi / Fungi - classification / Fungi - genetics / Fungi - isolation & purification / Genitalia, Female - microbiology / Gynaecology, Obstetrics and Reproductive Medicine / Gynekologi, obstetrik och reproduktionsmedicin / Health aspects / Humans / Liquid chromatography / Mass spectrometry / Medical Microbiology / Medical research / Medicine, Experimental / Metaproteomics / Microbial Ecology / Microbial Genetics and Genomics / Microbiology / Microbiology in the medical area / Microbiota / Mikrobiologi inom det medicinska området / Mycobiome / Proteins / Proteome / Proteomics - methods / Sexually transmitted diseases / South Africa / Tandem Mass Spectrometry / Vagina - microbiology / Vaginosis, Bacterial - microbiology / Virology / Women / Young Adult