AUTHOR=Liu Hai-yue , Li Chun-xi , Liang Zhen-yu , Zhang Shi-yu , Yang Wan-ying , Ye Yan-mei , Lin Yan-xia , Chen Rong-chang , Zhou Hong-wei , Su Jin 

TITLE=The Interactions of Airway Bacterial and Fungal Communities in Clinically Stable Asthma

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Microbiology

VOLUME=11

YEAR=2020

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/microbiology/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2020.01647

DOI=10.3389/fmicb.2020.01647

ISSN=1664-302X

ABSTRACT=<p>Dysbiotic airway microbiota play important roles in the inflammatory progression of asthma, and exploration of airway microbial interactions further elucidates asthma pathogenesis. However, little is known regarding the airway bacterial-fungal interactions in asthma patients. We conducted a cross-sectional survey of the sputum bacterial and fungal microbiota from 116 clinically stable asthma patients and 29 healthy controls using 16S rRNA gene and ITS1 sequencing. Compared with healthy individuals, asthma patients exhibited a significantly altered microbiota and increased bacterial and fungal alpha diversities in the airway. Microbial genera <italic>Moraxella</italic>, <italic>Capnocytophaga</italic>, and <italic>Ralstonia</italic> (bacteria) and <italic>Schizophyllum</italic>, <italic>Candida</italic>, and <italic>Phialemoniopsis</italic> (fungi) were more abundant in the asthma airways, while <italic>Rothia</italic>, <italic>Veillonella</italic> and <italic>Leptotrichia</italic> (bacteria) and <italic>Meyerozyma</italic> (fungus) were increased in healthy controls. The Moraxellaceae family and their genus <italic>Moraxella</italic> were significantly enriched in asthma patients compared with healthy controls (80.5-fold, <italic>P</italic> = 0.007 and 314.7-fold, <italic>P</italic> = 0.027, respectively). Moreover, Moraxellaceae, along with <italic>Schizophyllum</italic>, <italic>Candida</italic>, and <italic>Aspergillus</italic> (fungal genera), were positively associated with fungal alpha diversity. Correlation networks revealed 3 fungal genera (<italic>Schizophyllum</italic>, <italic>Candida</italic>, and <italic>Aspergillus</italic>) as important airway microbes in asthma that showed positive correlations with each other and multiple co-exclusions with other common microbiota. Moraxellaceae members were positively associated with asthma-enriched fungal taxa but negatively related to several healthy-enriched bacterial taxa. Collectively, our findings revealed an altered microbiota and complex microbial interactions in the airways of asthma patients. The Moraxellaceae family and their genus <italic>Moraxella</italic>, along with 3 important fungal taxa, showed significant interactions with the airway microbiota, providing potential insights into the novel pathogenic mechanisms of asthma.</p>