16S amplicon sequencing of sputa from tuberculosis patients

In this work we describe the results obtained from a multicenter study of the microbiota of sputum samples from patients with tuberculosis or unrelated lung diseases and healthy donors recruited in Switzerland, Italy and Bangladesh, with the ultimate goal of discovering a microbiota-based biomarker associated with tuberculosis. Bacterial 16S rDNA amplification, high-throughput sequencing and extensive bioinformatic analyses revealed patient-specific lung flora and high variability in taxon abundance. No common signature could be identified among the individuals enrolled and microbiota composition was found to be confounded by various factors, including the geographical setting. Moreover, anti-tuberculosis therapy did not cause any important variation in microbiota diversity, thus precluding its exploitation as a biomarker for the follow up of tuberculosis patients undergoing treatment.