Characterization and Functional Prediction of Bacteria in Ovarian Tissues

The theory of a "sterile" female upper reproductive tract has been encountering increasing opposition due to advancements in bacterial detection. However, whether ovaries contain bacteria has not yet been confirmed yet. Herein, an experiment to detect bacteria in ovarian tissues was introduced. We chose ovarian cancer patients in the cancer group and noncancerous patients in the control group. 16S rRNA gene sequencing was used to differentiate bacteria in ovarian tissues from the cancer and control groups. Furthermore, we predicted the functional composition of the identified bacteria by using BugBase and PICRUSt. This method can also be used in other viscera and tissues since many organs have been proven to harbor bacteria in recent years. The presence of bacteria in viscera and tissues may help scientists evaluate cancerous and normal tissues and may be aid in the treatment of cancer.