Vaginal metatranscriptome of bacterial mRNA from healthy and BV volunteers

Bacterial vaginosis (BV) increases transmission of HIV, enhances the risk of preterm labour, and is associated with malodour. Clinical diagnosis often relies on microscopy to give a Nugent score, which provides a low-resolution examination of the microbial composition. We conducted a metatranscriptomic analysis of health and BV samples and find that the microbial composition and the functional capacity are similar but not identical. We find that there are two distinct types of BV at the functional level, and that the various types of healthy microbiomes are rather similar at the functional level.