Swanson GM, Moskovtsev S, Librach C, Pilsner JR, Goodrich R, Krawetz SA. What human sperm RNA-Seq tells us about the microbiome.
J Assist Reprod Genet 2020;
37:359-368. [PMID:
31902104 PMCID:
PMC7056791 DOI:
10.1007/s10815-019-01672-x]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/15/2019] [Accepted: 12/19/2019] [Indexed: 10/25/2022] Open
Abstract
PURPOSE
The study was designed to assess the capacity of human sperm RNA-seq data to gauge the diversity of the associated microbiome within the ejaculate.
METHODS
Semen samples were collected, and semen parameters evaluated at time of collection. Sperm RNA was isolated and subjected to RNA-seq. Microbial composition was determined by aligning sequencing reads not mapped to the human genome to the NCBI RefSeq bacterial, viral and archaeal genomes following RNA-Seq. Analysis of microbial assignments utilized phyloseq and vegan.
RESULTS
Microbial composition within each sample was characterized as a function of microbial associated RNAs. Bacteria known to be associated with the male reproductive tract were present at similar levels in all samples representing 11 genera from four phyla with one exception, an outlier. Shannon diversity index (p < 0.001) and beta diversity (unweighted UniFrac distances, p = 9.99e-4; beta dispersion, p = 0.006) indicated the outlier was significantly different from all other samples. The outlier sample exhibited a dramatic increase in Streptococcus. Multiple testing indicated two operational taxonomic units, S. agalactiae and S. dysgalactiae (p = 0.009), were present.
CONCLUSION
These results provide a first look at the microbiome as a component of human sperm RNA sequencing that has sufficient sensitivity to identify contamination or potential pathogenic bacterial colonization at least among the known contributors.
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