Urethral Microbiome, Adolescent Males, Project

The penis has distinct anatomical environments in the urethra and the coronal sulcus that at least episodically support bacterial communities (Nelson et al. 2010). Both environments interact with other microbial communities during partnered sexual activity, as evidenced by high rates of disease caused by sexually transmitted pathogens. The roles of bacteria in these two distinct environments of the penis are unknown, but may mediate effects of circumcision on risk of sexually transmitted infections (Price et al. 2010).

In an ongoing longitudinal study of young men ages 14–17 years of age, 16S rRNA gene sequencing is used to characterize the microbiota of the urine and coronal sulcus from 18 adolescent men (Nelson et al. 2012). Microbiota found in urine are less stable over a 3-month period than those of the coronal sulcus. The microbiota of both sites are influenced by circumcision although this influence was much stronger on the coronal sulcus. Lactobacillus and Streptococcusare...