Animals & nature · 2012
Which species was most common in rhesus monkey vaginas?
Lactobacillus reuteri was the most abundant species, colonizing 86% of the 200 monkeys sampled. Most monkeys carried multiple Lactobacillus species.
Details
Rhesus monkeys are an important animal model for studying human vaginal health, in which lactic acid bacteria play a significant role. However, the richness and relative abundance of vaginal lactic acid bacterial species in rhesus monkeys were largely unknown.
In this observational study, researchers aseptically collected vaginal swabs from 200 reproductive-aged female rhesus monkeys. After plating the samples on Rogosa agar, they isolated single bacterial colonies representing different morphotypes and analyzed their whole-cell protein profiles, species-specific polymerase chain reaction results, and 16S rRNA gene sequences.
They identified 510 Lactobacillus strains belonging to 17 species and one Pediococcus acidilactici. Lactobacillus reuteri was the most abundant species, colonizing the vaginas of 86% of the monkeys. Lactobacillus johnsonii was the second most abundant, colonizing 36% of the monkeys. Most monkeys were colonized by multiple Lactobacillus species.
The researchers concluded that rhesus monkey vaginas are frequently colonized by multiple Lactobacillus species, with L. reuteri dominant.
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