Gardnerella diversity and ecology in pregnancy and preterm birth

ABSTRACT The vaginal microbiome has been linked to negative health outcomes including preterm birth. Specific taxa, including Gardnerella spp., have been identified as risk factors for these conditions. Historically, microbiome analysis methods have treated all Gardnerella spp. as one species, but the broad diversity of Gardnerella has become more apparent. We explore the diversity of Gardnerella clades and genomic species in the vaginal microbiome of pregnant women and their associations with microbiome composition and preterm birth. Relative abundance of Gardnerella clades and genomic species and other taxa was quantified in shotgun metagenomic sequencing data from three distinct cohorts of pregnant women. We also assessed the diversity and abundance of Gardnerella variants in 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing data from seven previously conducted studies in differing populations. Individual microbiomes often contained multiple Gardnerella variants, and the number of clades was associated with increased microbial load, or the ratio of non-human reads to human reads. Taxon co-occurrence patterns were largely consistent across Gardnerella clades and among cohorts. Some variants previously described as rare were prevalent in other cohorts, highlighting the importance of surveying a diverse set of populations to fully capture the diversity of Gardnerella. The diversity of Gardnerella both across populations and within individual vaginal microbiomes has long been unappreciated, as has been the intra-species diversity of many other members of the vaginal microbiome. The broad genomic diversity of Gardnerella has led to its reclassification as multiple species; here we demonstrate the diversity of Gardnerella found within and between vaginal microbiomes.IMPORTANCEThe present study shows that single microbiomes can contain all currently known species of Gardnerella and that multiple similar species can exist within the same environment. Furthermore, surveys of demographically distinct populations suggest that some species appear more commonly in certain populations. Further studies in broad and diverse populations will be necessary to fully understand the ecological roles of each Gardnerella sp., how they can co-exist, and their distinct impacts on microbial communities, preterm birth, and other health outcomes.