Microbiome diversity in the upper respiratory tract of ferrets during influenza virus infection. upper respiratory tract metagenome

Our present knowledge of the nature and extent of the microbial members of the Upper Respiratory Tract (URT) is limited. An effort to establish these basic components is ongoing as part of the Human Microbiome Project (HMP), a NIH Roadmap initiative. Ferrets are emerging experimental model organisms for studying influenza dynamics due to similar host phenotypes and infection compatibility, though nothing is known about their URT microbiomes. To complement a parallel study conducted in humans (PRJNA240562), we aim to study the microbiome of the URT of ferrets that have been experimentally exposed to Influenza virus. As part of this project we will submit 16S ribosomal bacterial DNA fragments from the URT of both uninfected and infected animals. Comparison of the microbiome of these different cohorts will elucidate the role the microbiome plays in disease severity and recovery. These studies would help us address how variable the metagenome at the URT is in ferrets, assess the similarity of ferret and human URT microbiomes, and examine the temporal dynamics of microbiome resilience and elasticity.