June 2013
Volume 54, Issue 15
Free
ARVO Annual Meeting Abstract  |   June 2013
Keratitis-induced changes to the homeostatic microbiome at the human cornea
Alexander Tuzhikov; Qunfeng Dong; Alexander Panchin; Onsiri Thanathanee; Nabeel Shalabi; David Nelson; Lakshmi Akileswaran; Russell Van Gelder; Terrence O'Brien; Valery Shestopalov
Author Affiliations & Notes
  • Alexander Tuzhikov
    Department of Ophthalmology, Bascom Palmer Eye Institute, University of Miami, School of Medicine, Miami, FL
  • Qunfeng Dong
    Departments of Biological Sciences, Computer Science and Engineering, University of North Texas, Texas, TX
  • Alexander Panchin
    Belozersky Institute of Physico-Chemical Biology, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow, Russian Federation
  • Onsiri Thanathanee
    Department of Ophthalmology, Srinagarind Hospital Khon Kaen University, Khon Kaen, Thailand
  • Nabeel Shalabi
    Department of Ophthalmology, Bascom Palmer Eye Institute, University of Miami, School of Medicine, Miami, FL
  • David Nelson
    Department of Biology, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN
  • Lakshmi Akileswaran
    Department of Ophthalmology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA
  • Russell Van Gelder
    Department of Ophthalmology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA
  • Terrence O'Brien
    Department of Ophthalmology, Bascom Palmer Eye Institute, University of Miami, School of Medicine, Miami, FL
  • Valery Shestopalov
    Department of Ophthalmology, Bascom Palmer Eye Institute, University of Miami, School of Medicine, Miami, FL
    Vavilov Institute of General Genetics, Vavilov Institute of General Genetics, Moscow, Russian Federation
  • Footnotes
    Commercial Relationships Alexander Tuzhikov, None; Qunfeng Dong, None; Alexander Panchin, None; Onsiri Thanathanee, None; Nabeel Shalabi, None; David Nelson, None; Lakshmi Akileswaran, None; Russell Van Gelder, Novartis (F); Terrence O'Brien, None; Valery Shestopalov, None
  • Footnotes
    Support None
Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science June 2013, Vol.54, 2891. doi:
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      Alexander Tuzhikov, Qunfeng Dong, Alexander Panchin, Onsiri Thanathanee, Nabeel Shalabi, David Nelson, Lakshmi Akileswaran, Russell Van Gelder, Terrence O'Brien, Valery Shestopalov; Keratitis-induced changes to the homeostatic microbiome at the human cornea. Invest. Ophthalmol. Vis. Sci. 2013;54(15):2891.

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Abstract

Purpose: Indigenous microflora can contribute to ocular surface (OS) infections, the major causes of corneal blindness in the US and world-wide. We analyzed microbial composition on the OS of healthy and infected human eyes using DNA sequencing.

Methods: We utilized 454 Roche sequencing of 16S rRNA gene libraries and Biome Representational in Silico Karyotyping (BRiSK) to analyze the OS microbiome. Phylogenetic classification was performed using ESPRIT, MOTHUR and classification algorithm of the RDP-II database. 16S reads, rejected by RDP-II tools, were classified by a novel TUIT algorithm utilizing GenBank database. Between-group comparison was used to analyze diversity, relative abundance, gender- and infection-related changes.

Results: The eyes of both genders were examined; 17 healthy and 4 eyes with ulcerative bacterial keratitis eyes were analyzed. The application of TUIT algorithm allowed us to classify 29% of reads rejected by RDP-II to the genus and 1% to the species levels, which substantially increased the percentage of identified reads. At the phylum level, the homeostatic community of the healthy cornea is dominated by Proteobacteria, Actinobacteria, Furmicutes and trace amounts of Cyanobacteria, and Bacteoidetes. At the genus level Propionibacterium, Staphilococcus and Bradyrhizobium showed the highest prevalence in healthy eyes. Between-group comparison revealed that the composition is heavily influenced by gender. More than 90% of all reads belong to five most prevalent genera in women and two genera in men. Bacterial keratitis caused depletion of homeostatic and the onset of stable pathological biome dominated by Pseudomonas aerugenosa and a defined cohort of satellites, indicating multibacterial type of infection. BRiSK corroborated deep 16S sequences and additionally identified a number of phage species present in both normal flora and enhanced in microbial keratitis.

Conclusions: Our results obtained with the two sequencing approaches and novel bioinformatics suggest that homeostatic corneal microbiome correlates with OS health, while the onset of pathology disrupts this community.

Keywords: 480 cornea: basic science • 433 bacterial disease • 573 keratitis  
© 2013, The Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology, Inc., all rights reserved. Permission to republish any abstract or part of an abstract in any form must be obtained in writing from the ARVO Office prior to publication.
Copyright © 2025 Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology.
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