{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,10]],"date-time":"2026-02-10T20:06:27Z","timestamp":1770753987662,"version":"3.50.0"},"reference-count":44,"publisher":"American Society for Microbiology","issue":"2","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,10]],"date-time":"2026-02-10T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1770681600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"},{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,10]],"date-time":"2026-02-10T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1770681600000},"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":["R01AI146065"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["R01AI146065"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100000060","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["journals.asm.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Infect Immun"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,10]]},"abstract":"<jats:title>ABSTRACT<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title\/>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      Key bacterial vaginosis (BV)-associated bacteria implicated in biofilm formation include\n                      <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">Gardnerella<\/jats:italic>\n                      species,\n                      <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">Prevotella bivia<\/jats:italic>\n                      , and\n                      <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">Fannyhessea vaginae<\/jats:italic>\n                      . We investigated their spatial organization in the BV biofilm over time from longitudinal vaginal specimens obtained from women with incident BV (iBV) using peptide nucleic acid-fluorescence\n                      <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">in situ<\/jats:italic>\n                      hybridization (PNA-FISH). Heterosexual women with optimal vaginal microbiota self-collected vaginal specimens twice daily for 60 days or until iBV development (Nugent score 7\u201310 on \u22654 consecutive specimens). Women who developed iBV were matched to healthy controls by age, race, and contraceptive method.\n                      <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">Gardnerella<\/jats:italic>\n                      spp.,\n                      <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">P. bivia<\/jats:italic>\n                      , and\n                      <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">F. vaginae<\/jats:italic>\n                      were quantified using PNA-FISH 2 days pre-iBV, the day of iBV, and 2 days post-iBV across five optical layers (\n                      <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">z<\/jats:italic>\n                      ,\n                      <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">z<\/jats:italic>\n                      + 2, z + 4,\n                      <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">z<\/jats:italic>\n                      + 6, and\n                      <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">z<\/jats:italic>\n                      + 8 \u03bcm). Total counts of all three bacterial species were significantly higher on the day of iBV compared to 2 days pre-iBV (\n                      <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">P<\/jats:italic>\n                      = 0.011) and remained elevated 2 days post-iBV. Across most layers and time points, pooled mean\n                      <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">Gardnerella<\/jats:italic>\n                      spp. counts were significantly higher than\n                      <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">F. vaginae<\/jats:italic>\n                      counts (\n                      <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">P<\/jats:italic>\n                      \u2264 0.022-0.0003). On the day of iBV and 2 days post-iBV, pooled mean counts of\n                      <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">Gardnerella<\/jats:italic>\n                      spp. and\n                      <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">F. vaginae<\/jats:italic>\n                      progressively increased across most biofilm layers (\n                      <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">P<\/jats:italic>\n                      \u2264 0.043-0.0012). Controls had significantly lower counts of\n                      <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">Gardnerella<\/jats:italic>\n                      spp. and\n                      <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">F. vaginae. P. bivia<\/jats:italic>\n                      had low counts in all specimens. During the critical time period surrounding iBV,\n                      <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">Gardnerella<\/jats:italic>\n                      spp. are abundant throughout the developing biofilm and facilitate\n                      <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">F. vaginae<\/jats:italic>\n                      incorporation at later time points and higher biofilm layers. Additional research, including other\n                      <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">Prevotella<\/jats:italic>\n                      spp., is needed.\n                    <\/jats:p>\n                    <jats:sec>\n                      <jats:title>IMPORTANCE<\/jats:title>\n                      <jats:p>Bacterial vaginosis (BV) is the most common vaginal infection in reproductive-age women worldwide with a global prevalence of 30%. Recurrence rates can be up to 60% within 1 year of treatment. While BV is characterized as a polymicrobial biofilm infection, the exact etiology remains unknown. The BV biofilm may persist after antibiotic treatment, possibly due to incomplete eradication by current antimicrobial therapies, contributing to recurrent infection. Data are limited in evaluating the spatial formation of the BV biofilm around the time of incident BV. Providing a better understanding of this critical time period in incident BV pathogenesis is necessary to inform the development of prevention methods aimed at inhibiting biofilm formation and improving long-term treatment outcomes.<\/jats:p>\n                    <\/jats:sec>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1128\/iai.00630-25","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,22]],"date-time":"2026-01-22T14:00:24Z","timestamp":1769090424000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1128\/asmj-crossmark-policy-page","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Spatial organization of\n                    <i>Gardnerella<\/i>\n                    species,\n                    <i>Prevotella bivia<\/i>\n                    , and\n                    <i>Fannyhessea vaginae<\/i>\n                    in the bacterial vaginosis biofilm"],"prefix":"10.1128","volume":"94","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0000-7420-9753","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Sheridan D.","family":"George","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/008s83205","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}],"name":"Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, University of Alabama at Birmingham","place":["Birmingham, USA"]}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-1545-7826","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Megan H.","family":"Amerson-Brown","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/008s83205","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}],"name":"Division of Laboratory Medicine, Department of Pathology, University of Alabama at Birmingham","place":["Birmingham, USA"]}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-7323-4025","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"L\u00facia G. V.","family":"Sousa","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/037wpkx04","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}],"name":"Centre of Biological Engineering (CEB), Laboratory of Research in Biofilms Ros\u00e1rio Oliveira (LIBRO), University of Minho","place":["Braga, Portugal"]}]},{"given":"Alexa H.","family":"Rinehart","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/008s83205","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}],"name":"Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, University of Alabama at Birmingham","place":["Birmingham, USA"]}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-4475-2760","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Ashutosh","family":"Tamhane","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/008s83205","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}],"name":"Division of Nephrology, Department of Medicine, University of Alabama at Birmingham","place":["Birmingham, 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