Contrasting diversity of vaginal lactobacilli among the females of Northeast India.

BACKGROUND: Lactobacilli are gatekeepers of vaginal ecosystem impeding growth of pathogenic microbes and their diversity varies across populations worldwide. The present study investigated diversity of human vaginal microbiota among females of Northeast India, who are distinct in dietary habits, lifestyle, and genomic composition from rest of India. RESULTS: Altogether, 154 bacterial isolates were obtained from vaginal swab samples of 40 pregnant and 29 non-pregnant females. The samples were sequenced for 16 s rRNA gene and analysed for identification using a dual approach of homology search and maximum likelihood based clustering. Molecular identification based on 16S rRNA gene sequence confirmed the isolates belonging to 31 species. Lactobacilli constituted 37.7% of the bacterial isolates with 10 species and other Lactic Acid Bacteria (39.61%) represented another 10 species, some of which are opportunistic pathogens. The remaining of the communities are mostly dominated by species of Staphylococcus (14.28%) and rarely by Propionibacterium avidum (3.90%), Bacillus subtilis, Escherchia coli, Janthinobacterium lividum, and Kocuria kristinae (each 0.64%). Interestingly Lactobacillus mucosae and Enterococcus faecalis, which are globally uncommon vaginal microbes is found dominant among women of Northeast India. This tentatively reflects adaptability of particular Lactobacillus species, in distinct population, to better compete for receptors and nutrients in vaginal epithelium than other species. Further, intrageneric 16S rRNA gene exchange was observed among Enterococcus, Staphylococcus, and two species of Lactobacillus, and deep intraspecies divergence among L. mucosae, which pinpointed possibility of emergence of new strains with evolved functionality. Lactobacilli percentage decreased from young pregnant to aged non-pregnant women with maximum colonization in trimester II. CONCLUSION: The study highlighted importance of assessment of vaginal microbiota, Lactobacillus in particular, across different population to gain more insight on female health.

Demonstration of LanthaScreen™ TR-FRET-based nuclear receptor coactivator recruitment assay using PHERAstar, a multi-detection HTS microplate reader.

An attempt was made to demonstrate the possibility of performing LanthaScreen™ TR-FRET based nuclear receptor coactivator recruitment assay using PHERAstar, a multi-detection HTS microplate reader. LanthaScreen™ nuclear receptor coactivator recruitment assay (M/s Invitrogen corporation, USA) was performed using PPAR-gamma receptor preparation in the agonist mode. TR-FRET measurements were done on PHERAstar, a multimode microplate reader (BMG LABTECH, Germany). The Lanthascreen PPAR gamma coactivator recruitment assay was successfully performed in the PHERAstar, multimode microplate reader. This was evidenced by an assay robustness score (Z') of 0.71. The current work demonstrates the suitability of using PHERAstar, a multi-detection HTS microplate reader.for performing LanthaScreen™ TR-FRET based nuclear receptor coactivator recruitment assays.