Alexander Kula
Current Organizations / Institutes
The organizations/institutes from the scholar's latest article
Alexander Kula has a total of 7 co-authors. Here are the top co-authors by number of shared publications:
- Alan J. Wolfe
Stritch School of Medicine, Loyola University Chicago, Maywood, IL
1 shared publication - Baani Sabharwal
Department of Molecular Environmental Biology, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA
1 shared publication - Catherine Putonti
Bioinformatics Program, Loyola University Chicago
1 shared publication - Haley Atkins
Bioinformatics Program, Loyola University Chicago, Chicago, IL 60660, USA
1 shared publication - Leah Boger
Data Science Program, Loyola University Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA
1 shared publication - Natalie Stegman
Bioinformatics Program, Loyola University Chicago, Chicago, IL 60660, USA
1 shared publication
Latest Publications
- Open Access
- 1 July 2024
- Published by Microbiology Society in Microbial Genomics
- Vol. 10 (7) , 001267
Evidence of Lactobacillus strains shared between the female urinary and vaginal microbiota
Lactobacillus species are common inhabitants of the ‘healthy’ female urinary and vaginal communities, often associated with a lack of symptoms in both anatomical sites. Given identification by prior studies of similar bacterial species in both communities, it has been hypothesized that the two microbiotas are in fact connected. Here, we carried out whole-genome sequencing of 49 Lactobacillus strains, including 16 paired urogenital samples from the same participant. These strains represent five different Lactobacillus species: L. crispatus, L. gasseri, L. iners, L. jensenii, and L. paragasseri. Average nucleotide identity (ANI), alignment, single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP), and CRISPR comparisons between strains from the same participant were performed. We conducted simulations of genome assemblies and ANI comparisons and present a statistical method to distinguish between unrelated, related, and identical strains. We found that 50 % of the paired samples have identical strains, evidence that the urinary and vaginal communities are connected. Additionally, we found evidence of strains sharing a common ancestor. These results establish that microbial sharing between the urinary tract and vagina is not limited to uropathogens. Knowledge that these two anatomical sites can share lactobacilli in females can inform future clinical approaches.
- 1 July 2024
- Published by Microbiology Society in Microbial Genomics
- Vol. 10 (7) , 001267
Open AccessEvidence of Lactobacillus strains shared between the female urinary and vaginal microbiota
Lactobacillus species are common inhabitants of the ‘healthy’ female urinary and vaginal communities, often associated with a lack of symptoms in both anatomical sites. Given identification by prior studies of similar bacterial species in both communities, it has been hypothesized that the two microbiotas are in fact connected. Here, we carried out whole-genome sequencing of 49 Lactobacillus strains, including 16 paired urogenital samples from the same participant. These strains represent five different Lactobacillus species: L. crispatus, L. gasseri, L. iners, L. jensenii, and L. paragasseri. Average nucleotide identity (ANI), alignment, single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP), and CRISPR comparisons between strains from the same participant were performed. We conducted simulations of genome assemblies and ANI comparisons and present a statistical method to distinguish between unrelated, related, and identical strains. We found that 50 % of the paired samples have identical strains, evidence that the urinary and vaginal communities are connected. Additionally, we found evidence of strains sharing a common ancestor. These results establish that microbial sharing between the urinary tract and vagina is not limited to uropathogens. Knowledge that these two anatomical sites can share lactobacilli in females can inform future clinical approaches.