{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,1]],"date-time":"2026-04-01T13:45:37Z","timestamp":1775051137868,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":27,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"11","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2024,6,1]],"date-time":"2024-06-01T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1717200000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Open Access Publication Fund of the University of Freiburg"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["IJMS"],"abstract":"<jats:p>The microbiome of the ocular surface has been characterised, but only limited information is available on a possible silent intraocular microbial colonisation in normal eyes. Therefore, we performed next-generation sequencing (NGS) of 16S rDNA genes in the aqueous humour. The aqueous humour was sampled from three patients during cataract surgery. Air swabs, conjunctival swabs from patients as well as from healthy donors served as controls. Following DNA extraction, the V3 and V4 hypervariable regions of the 16S rDNA gene were amplified and sequenced followed by denoising. The resulting Amplicon Sequence Variants were matched to a subset of the Ribosomal Database Project 16S database. The deduced bacterial community was then statistically analysed. The DNA content in all samples was low (0\u20131.49 ng\/\u00b5L) but sufficient for analysis. The main phyla in the samples were Acinetobacteria (48%), Proteobacteria (26%), Firmicutes (14%), Acidobacteria (8%), and Bacteroidetes (2%). Patients\u2019 conjunctival control samples and anterior chamber fluid showed similar patterns of bacterial species containing many waterborne species. Non-disinfected samples showed a different bacterial spectrum than the air swab samples. The data confirm the existence of an ocular surface microbiome. Meanwhile, a distinct intraocular microbiome was not discernible from the background, suggesting the absence of an intraocular microbiome in normal eyes.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/ijms25116128","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2024,6,3]],"date-time":"2024-06-03T10:06:01Z","timestamp":1717409161000},"page":"6128","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":3,"title":["Next-Generation Sequencing of the Human Aqueous Humour Microbiome"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"25","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-0355-7766","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"G\u00fcnther","family":"Schlunck","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Eye Center, Medical Center, Faculty of Medicine, University of Freiburg, 79110 Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Philip","family":"Maier","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Eye Center, Medical Center, Faculty of Medicine, University of Freiburg, 79110 Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Barbara","family":"Maier","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute for Infection Prevention and Control, Faculty of Medicine, University of Freiburg, 79110 Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Wolfgang","family":"Maier","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Bioinformatics Group, Department of Computer Science, University of Freiburg, Georges-K\u00f6hler-Allee 106, 79110 Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Sebastian","family":"Strempel","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Microsynth AG, Sch\u00fctzenstrasse 15, CH-9436 Balgach, Switzerland"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Thomas","family":"Reinhard","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Eye Center, Medical Center, Faculty of Medicine, University of Freiburg, 79110 Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-6569-630X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Sonja","family":"Heinzelmann","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Eye Center, Medical Center, Faculty of Medicine, University of Freiburg, 79110 Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2024,6,1]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"The Integrative HMP (iHMP) Research Network Consortium (2019). 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