Date of Award

Spring 5-7-2026

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science - Biology

Department

Biology

First Advisor

Alexandra Martynova-Van Kley

Second Advisor

James Van Kley

Third Advisor

Matthew Kwiatkowski

Fourth Advisor

Reuber Antoniazzi

Abstract

ABSTRACT

The human cervicovaginal microbiome is a complex and dynamic community that plays a crucial role in maintaining female reproductive health. This study characterizes the cervicovaginal microbiota of asymptomatic women using 16S rRNA high-throughput gene sequencing, focusing on how microbial diversity and composition vary across demographic, physiological, and lifestyle factors including ethnicity, body mass index (BMI), menstrual cycle phase, antibiotic use, and contraceptive use. Samples targeting the V3 and V4 hypervariable regions of the 16S rRNA gene were analyzed, revealing that Lactobacillus species dominate the microbiome in most individuals, although significant inter-individual variation exists with the presence of other taxa such as Gardnerella, Prevotella, and Escherichia/Shigella. While there were no significant differences in species richness or evenness related to host factors after measuring the alpha diversity, the beta analysis indicated that the menstrual cycle phase significantly varied the microbial community. Redundancy analysis models explained up to 61% of variation in microbiome composition, highlighting the combined influences of menstrual cycle, contraceptive use, and antibiotic exposure. When analyzing the co-occurrence network, I found that there are potentially important hub taxa that affect the community structure by interacting with other microbes. In the CVM among healthy women, it was observed that the composition could be quite heterogeneous, and the host and environmental factors are essential. This study provides a basis for further research on the implications of CVM for women's health.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.

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