Project description:Mycoplasma hominis (M. hominis) belongs to the class Mollicutes, characterized by a very small genome size, metabolic pathway reduction, including transcription factors, and the absence of a cell wall. Despite this, they adapt well not only to specific niches within the host organism but can also spread throughout the body, colonizing various organs and tissues. The mechanisms of adaptation in M. hominis, as well as the pathways regulating them, are poorly understood. It is known that when adapting to adverse conditions, mycoplasmas can undergo phenotypic switches that may persist for several generations. To investigate the adaptive properties of M. hominis associated with survival in the host organism, we conducted a comparative proteogenomic analysis of 8 clinical isolates of M. hominis obtained from patients with urogenital infections, along with the laboratory strain H-34.
Project description:The sexually transmitted parasite Trichomonas vaginalis is often found in symbiosis with the obligate intracellular pathogen Mycoplasma hominis. M. hominis is itself an opportunistic pathogen of the female reproductive tract associated with bacterial vaginosis. The goal of this experiment was to identify the effects of each pathogen individually and in symbiosis on host cell gene expression.