Characterisation of bacterial populations in sputum from cystic fibrosis patients. GEL_RobertRyan_BIOMERIT.RR.20100719.01

Chronic polymicrobial infections of the lung are the foremost cause of morbidity and mortality in cystic fibrosis (CF) patients. The composition of the microbial flora of the airway alters considerably during infection, particularly during patient exacerbation. An understanding of which organisms are growing, their environment and their behaviour in the airway is of importance for designing antibiotic treatment regimes and for patient prognosis. To this end, we have analysed sputum samples taken from separate cohorts of CF and non-CF subjects for metabolites and in parallel, have examined both isolated DNA and RNA for the presence of 16S rRNA genes and transcripts by highthroughput sequencing of amplicon or cDNA libraries. This analysis revealed that although the population size of all dominant orders of bacteria as measured by DNA and RNA-based methods are close, greater discrepancies are seen with less prevalent organisms, some of which we associate with CF for the first time. Additionally, we identified a strong relationship between the abundance of specific anaerobes and fluctuations in several metabolites including lactate and putrescine during patient exacerbation. This study has hence identified organisms whose occurrence within the CF microbiome has been hitherto unreported and has revealed potential metabolic biomarkers for exacerbation.