Cystic Fibrosis Lung Microbiota: An Example of Predator-Prey Ecology

Abstract

The lower respiratory system has been classically considered as a sterile organ, although the molecular tools demonstrated the existence of a lung microbiota even tough in a healthy status. The Cystic Fibrosis (CF) lungs have a pathogenic bacterial colonisation that started after the birth, determining the clinical status of the patient and the disease progression. The application of the next-generation sequencing techniques to CF-respiratory samples has allowed us to expand our knowledge to this complex microbiota, focusing in other fastidious or uncultured microorganisms that we never have considered as real pathogens. Recent works demonstrated that the lung microbiota of the CF-patients with worst lung function is characterised by a low diversity and complexity with the enrichment of the typical CFpathogens.

The lower respiratory system has been classically considered as a sterile organ, although the molecular tools demonstrated the existence of a lung microbiota even tough in a healthy status. The Cystic Fibrosis (CF) lungs have a pathogenic bacterial colonisation that started after the birth, determining the clinical status of the patient and the disease progression. The application of the next-generation sequencing techniques to CF-respiratory samples has allowed us to expand our knowledge to this complex microbiota, focusing in other fastidious or uncultured microorganisms that we never have considered as real pathogens. Recent works demonstrated that the lung microbiota of the CF-patients with worst lung function is characterised by a low diversity and complexity with the enrichment of the typical CFpathogens.