mRNA-seq enables simultaneous host transcriptome and microbiome profiling in vulvar samples (microbiomejournal.biomedcentral.com)

• Poly(A)-enriched mRNA-seq reconstructs microbial composition with concordance to DNA metagenomics (R~0.8).
• Vulvar CSTs mirror vaginal CSTs; L. crispatus associates with epithelial integrity, G. vaginalis with inflammation.
• Method enables cost-effective reanalysis of existing RNA-seq data for microbiome insights.

"A study in Microbiome demonstrates that standard poly(A)-enriched mRNA-seq can reliably reconstruct microbial composition without parallel DNA sequencing. Validated on a mock community and six ex-vivo samples (concordance R~0.8), the method was applied to 30 healthy vulvar swabs, identifying four community state types mirroring vaginal CSTs. Integrated host-microbe correlation networks revealed that Lactobacillus crispatus-dominated communities associate with epithelial differentiation and barrier integrity, while Gardnerella vaginalis and Lactobacillus gasseri correlate with inflammatory pathways. The approach enables retrospective extraction of microbiome data from existing RNA-seq datasets."