{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,27]],"date-time":"2026-08-27T19:34:40Z","timestamp":1787859280498,"version":"build-2784847793"},"reference-count":70,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"1","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,7]],"date-time":"2026-01-07T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1767744000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Western Australian Human Microbiome Collaboration Centre"},{"name":"Curtin University"},{"DOI":"10.13039\/100012155","name":"Channel 7 Telethon Trust","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100012155","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"crossref"}]},{"name":"Western Australia Pregnancy Biobank"},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100001069","name":"Women & Infants Research Foundation","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100001069","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"crossref"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Microorganisms"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Vaginal microbiome composition has been linked to risk of preterm birth (PTB), a persistent global health challenge. 16S rRNA microbial profiling has identified specific vaginal community state types (CSTs) that have been associated with PTB risk. Diagnostic profiling requires standardised pre-analytical protocols. We evaluated two storage methods and validated a curated, vagina-specific 16S rRNA gene database (VagDB) to enhance annotation. Paired Copan FLOQ swabs from 22 women at high PTB risk were processed for either (a) dry\/immediate freezing or (b) Amies-stabilisation\/refrigeration. Amplicon sequence variants were generated via 16S rRNA gene (V4) PCR and Illumina sequencing. We assessed diversity, composition, and community state type (CST) allocation. Amies-stabilised samples yielded significantly higher DNA (p = 0.003), but this did not alter species richness, evenness, or community structure. VagDB enhanced species-level resolution. PCoA showed robust clustering by participant and CST (p &lt; 0.001), irrespective of storage; CST concordance exceeded 90%. Routinely collected vaginal swabs in stabilisation medium with an 8\u201372 h refrigeration window yield reliable data, supporting the integration of vaginal microbiome profiling into clinical PTB risk assessment.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/microorganisms14010128","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,7]],"date-time":"2026-01-07T11:46:43Z","timestamp":1767786403000},"page":"128","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["Optimising Vaginal Microbiome Profiling for Clinical Translation: A Comparative Assessment of Sample Storage Methods and a Vagina-Specific 16S rRNA Gene Database"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"14","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-4498-2870","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Alishum","family":"Ali","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Trace and Environmental DNA (TrEnD) Laboratory, School of Molecular Life Sciences, Curtin University, Perth, WA 6102, Australia"},{"name":"Perron Institute for Neurological and Translational Science, Perth, WA 6009, Australia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-5403-6266","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Jeffrey A.","family":"Keelan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Biomedical Sciences, The University of Western Australia, Perth, WA 6009, Australia"},{"name":"Division of Obstetrics & Gynaecology, The University of Western Australia, Perth, WA 6009, Australia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-3829-6439","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Blagica","family":"Penova-Veselinovic","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Division of Obstetrics & Gynaecology, The University of Western Australia, Perth, WA 6009, Australia"},{"name":"The Raine Study, The University of Western Australia, Perth, WA 6009, Australia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-4424-3568","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Morten E.","family":"Allentoft","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Trace and Environmental DNA (TrEnD) Laboratory, School of Molecular Life Sciences, Curtin University, Perth, WA 6102, Australia"},{"name":"Section for GeoGenetics, Globe Institute, University of Copenhagen, 1350 Copenhagen, Denmark"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-0302-4206","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Michael","family":"Bunce","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Trace and Environmental DNA (TrEnD) Laboratory, School of Molecular Life Sciences, Curtin University, Perth, WA 6102, Australia"},{"name":"OceanOmics, Minderoo Foundation, Perth, WA 6009, Australia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-1591-5871","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Claus T.","family":"Christophersen","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Trace and Environmental DNA (TrEnD) Laboratory, School of Molecular Life Sciences, Curtin University, Perth, WA 6102, Australia"},{"name":"School of Medical and Health Sciences, Edith Cowan University, Perth, WA 6027, Australia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,7]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Beliz\u00e1rio, J.E., and Napolitano, M. 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