{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,30]],"date-time":"2026-07-30T18:19:54Z","timestamp":1785435594483,"version":"3.56.0"},"reference-count":56,"publisher":"American Society for Microbiology","issue":"6","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,10]],"date-time":"2026-06-10T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1781049600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"},{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,10]],"date-time":"2026-06-10T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1781049600000},"content-version":"tdm","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/journals.asm.org\/non-commercial-tdm-license"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/100000060","name":"National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["R01AI153332,R21AI186346"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["R01AI153332,R21AI186346"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100000060","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/100000060","name":"National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["F32AI186285"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["F32AI186285"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100000060","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["journals.asm.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["mBio"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,10]]},"abstract":"<jats:title>ABSTRACT<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title\/>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">Streptococcus agalactiae,<\/jats:italic>\n                      or group B\n                      <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">Streptococcus<\/jats:italic>\n                      (GBS), is an opportunistic pathogen that asymptomatically colonizes the vaginal tract of up to 30% of healthy individuals. However, during pregnancy, it is associated with adverse pregnancy outcomes, and GBS can be transmitted to the fetus\n                      <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">in utero<\/jats:italic>\n                      or the newborn during vaginal birth, resulting in invasive neonatal disease. Previously, we identified that\n                      <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">Akkermansia muciniphila<\/jats:italic>\n                      increases GBS vaginal persistence in a cohort of human vaginal microbiome samples collected throughout pregnancy and promotes GBS vaginal colonization in a murine model. However, the mechanisms responsible for these observations are unknown. Here, we analyze additional vaginal shotgun metagenomic data sets and show that across independent studies with diverse populations,\n                      <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">A. muciniphila<\/jats:italic>\n                      -positive samples had higher GBS abundance. We determined that\n                      <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">A. muciniphila<\/jats:italic>\n                      aggregates with human vaginal isolates of GBS across all serotypes and promotes GBS attachment to human vaginal epithelial cells (hVECs). RNA-sequencing analysis reveals that\n                      <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">A. muciniphila<\/jats:italic>\n                      changed the expression of 281 unique GBS genes during hVEC co-colonization, many of which are involved in cell wall\/membrane\/envelope biogenesis. We demonstrate the importance of the GBS capsule and pili for direct interaction with\n                      <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">A. muciniphila<\/jats:italic>\n                      and increased attachment to hVECs, respectively. Lastly, we found that\n                      <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">A. muciniphila<\/jats:italic>\n                      promoted GBS aggregation in the murine vaginal lumen and that continual treatment with\n                      <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">A. muciniphila<\/jats:italic>\n                      reduced GBS vaginal persistence. Our results provide mechanistic insights and further evidence of the impact of\n                      <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">A. muciniphila<\/jats:italic>\n                      on GBS vaginal colonization and also demonstrate a beneficial potential of\n                      <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">A. muciniphila<\/jats:italic>\n                      treatment in the vaginal environment.\n                    <\/jats:p>\n                    <jats:sec>\n                      <jats:title>IMPORTANCE<\/jats:title>\n                      <jats:p>\n                        Group B\n                        <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">Streptococcus<\/jats:italic>\n                        (GBS) is a frequent colonizer of the vaginal tract of healthy people; however, during pregnancy, maternal colonization is associated with adverse pregnancy outcomes. GBS is a leading cause of neonatal sepsis and meningitis, with transmission to neonates occurring either during vaginal delivery or through ascension into the uterus during pregnancy. The influence of the vaginal microbiota on GBS pathogenesis remains greatly underappreciated. We have found that GBS is associated with the mucin-degrading intestinal commensal\n                        <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">Akkermansia muciniphila<\/jats:italic>\n                        , a newly identified colonizer of the vaginal tract. Our research identifies the mechanistic impact of this commensal organism on GBS aggregation, cell adherence, and gene expression, as well as its therapeutic potential during GBS vaginal colonization. Unraveling relationships between GBS and the vaginal microbiota will improve maternal-fetal health and may facilitate the development of alternative methods to reduce GBS\n                        <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">in utero<\/jats:italic>\n                        complications and neonatal disease.\n                      <\/jats:p>\n                    <\/jats:sec>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1128\/mbio.02868-25","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,27]],"date-time":"2026-04-27T13:00:18Z","timestamp":1777294818000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1128\/asmj-crossmark-policy-page","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["<i>Akkermansia muciniphila<\/i>\n                    impacts group B\n                    <i>Streptococcus<\/i>\n                    vaginal colonization"],"prefix":"10.1128","volume":"17","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-8668-2203","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Stephanie 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