Ocular Microbiology and Immunology Group
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2011 OMIG Abstract 7

The ocular surface microbiome: Indigenous communities colonize the healthy
cornea and conjunctiva
V.I. Shestopalov^1A,1B O. Thanahantee^1A, A. Galor^1A, Q. Dong², E. Toh³, D. Nelson³, L. Akileswaran^4A, J. Shendure^4B, R. Rong², D. Miller^1A, R.N. Van Gelder^4A, T. O’Brien^1A
1A Bascom Palmer Eye Institute, University of Miami School of Medicine, Miami, FL, ^1BCell Biology and Anatomy University of Miami School of Medicine, Miami, FL, ²Department of Biological Sciences, University of North Texas, Denton, TX, ³Department of Biology, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, ^4ADepartment of Ophthalmology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, ^4BDepartment of Genome Science, University of Washington, Seattle, WA

Purpose: Infections of the ocular surface (OS) are a common clinical problem studied worldwide; however, the composition of indigenous microbiota colonizing the cornea and conjunctiva remains poorly characterized.

Methods: This study assessed microbial diversity and community structure of the OS in healthy eyes using deep sequencing of 16S rRNA gene amplicon libraries and a biome representational in silico karyotyping (BRISK).

Results: Conjunctival swab and corneal epithelium samples were collected from two cohorts: healthy volunteers (4 male eyes, age 38±12) and patients undergoing epiLASIK surgery with mechanical epithelial delamination (16 eyes total: 6 males, age 56±13, 7 females, age 59±19). We detected significantly higher diversity and abundance of bacterial genera on the conjunctiva vs. cornea.  Conjunctiva harbored 59 bacterial genera from 5 phyla, where 12 were ubiquitous and comprised >98% of the entire community. The corneal community consisted of 5 phyla, 56 genera, with 5 ubiquitous and 10 highly prevalent among same-gender subjects. Among top 20 genera, 10 were cornea-specific, 11 conjunctiva-specific, and 9 were present on both tissues. Genders differed significantly in bacterial alpha-diversity, which was three-fold higher in female vs. males. Bilateral sampling and re-sampling the same subject have confirmed high concordance, evidence of the robustness of the deep sequencing technology. In addition to known bacteria, approximately 30% of 16S rRNA-detected bacteria and up to 90% of BRISK-detected sequences belonged to unclassified or novel species.

Conclusions: Our analysis disclosed that corneal and conjunctival epithelia are colonized by unexpectedly diverse and distinct microbiomes, a potential new factor for consideration and further study in ocular health and disease.

Support: EY019974 (VIS); RC2HG005806-01 (Q.D. & D.N.), Burroughs-Wellcome Foundation (RVG); P30 EY014801 and an unrestricted RPB grant (Department of Ophthalmology)

Disclosures: S

2011 Abstract List | < Previous | Next >