Airway Bacterial Community Structure and Correlation during Health and Disease

1. ePoster can be accessed by a download from the conference computer terminal or by sending email to gisligeir01@gmail.com WS8.5 • Airway Bacterial Community Structure and Correlation during Health and Disease • G.G. Einarsson1, M.M. Tunney1, E.R. Klem2, A.A. Fodor2, M.C. Wolfgang2 and J.S. Elborn1 • 1CF & Airways Microbiology Research Group, Queen’s University Belfast, Belfast, United Kingdom • 2University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, United States

2. Aims To determine: • What are the marked differences between what we term as “health” associated and “disease” associated microbiota? • Is it possible to detect “core” community structure (hubs) in samples from the airways? Background Methods Results Conclusions

3. Methods • 879 samples analysed • 2.5 million sequence reads from a normalised dataset • 10 body sites of the “upper” airways from “The Human Microbiome Project” as a surrogate for the “healthy” microbiome • CF Sputum • CF Mouthwash • Data based on 454-FLX Titanium runs Background Methods Results Conclusions

4. Methods • Nestedness for community structures evaluated by C-Score statistics. • Ranked Spearman’s Correlation Coefficient of >0.5 used as an indication of a “strong” correlation between two groups. • Adjusted P-values of p<0.0001 used as an indicator of statistical significance. • Community matrix streamlined for network analysis to contain taxa detected in ≥50% of all samples. Background Methods Results Conclusions

5. Bacterial Distribution in the Airways 424 different taxa detected. Common bacterial taxa found at most sampling sites (). Anterior nares harbour distinct microbiota () with respect to their dominant taxa. CF sputum, but not CF mouthwash, affected by a disproportionally high load of Pseudomonas sp. and Burkholderia sp. () compared to other sites. Pseudomonas sp. found in 6.5% of the healthy cohort. Background Methods Results Conclusions

6. Network – CF Sputum Background Methods Results Conclusions

7. Network – CF Mouthwash Background Methods Results Conclusions

8. Network - All Sampling Sites Background Methods Results Conclusions

9. Key findings • “Core” communities of “strongly” correlating taxa detected in most sampling sites. • Number of taxa, including Streptococcus sp., Prevotella sp., Veillonella sp., Actinomyces sp. and Rothia sp., detected in over 90% of samples. • Streptococcus sp., the most common taxa detected in most sampling sites, lacks correlation with most of the other major community hubs. • A number of anaerobic bacteria commonly associated with the “upper” airways form a major part of the main community hubs in most sites. • By excluding principal pathogens associated with CF marked similarities between “core” communities can be detected. Background Methods Results Conclusions

10. Summary • “Core” communities detected at the level of genera regardless of host state. • Current microbiome studies lack the resolution to inform us of species specific association with disease, especially for heterogeneous genera such as Streptococcus sp., Prevotella sp. and Veillonella sp. • Improvement in culture technologies may improve our understanding. • Co-culture with relevant taxa may increase our understanding of the potential role they play in the progression of chronic pulmonary disease. • Pseudomonas sp. and Burkholderia sp. form a signature taxa associated with CF sputum, but not CF mouthwash and other sampling sites. Background Methods Results Conclusions

11. Acknowledgements G.G.E., M.M.T. and J.S.E. were supported through a US-Ireland Project Partnership Grant by the HSC Research and Development, Public Health Agency, Northern Ireland. M.M.T. was supported by a Health and Social Care Research and Development, Public Health Agency, Northern Ireland, funded UK National Institute for Health Research Career Scientist Award. E.R.K., A.A.F. and M.C.W. were supported by a grant from the United States National Institutes of Health (HL092964).