Abstract
Bacterial-viral interactions in saliva have been associated with morbidity and mortality for respiratory viruses such as influenza and SARS-CoV. However, such transkingdom relationships during SARS-CoV-2 infection are currently unknown. Here, we aimed to elucidate the relationship between saliva microbiota and SARSCoV- 2 in a cohort of newly hospitalized COVID-19 patients and controls. We used 16S rRNA sequencing to compare microbiome diversity and taxonomic composition between COVID-19 patients (n = 53) and controls (n = 59) and based on saliva SARSCoV- 2 viral load as measured using reverse transcription PCR (RT-PCR). The saliva microbiome did not differ markedly between COVID-19 patients and controls. However, we identified significant differential abundance of numerous taxa based on saliva SARS-CoV-2 viral load, including multiple species within Streptococcus and Prevotella.
Original language | English (US) |
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Article number | e00055-21 |
Journal | Microbiology Spectrum |
Volume | 9 |
Issue number | 2 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Oct 2021 |
Externally published | Yes |
Keywords
- COVID-19
- SARS-CoV-2
- Saliva microbiome
- Viral load
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Physiology
- Ecology
- Immunology and Microbiology(all)
- Genetics
- Microbiology (medical)
- Cell Biology
- Infectious Diseases