Conventional tobacco products harbor unique and heterogenous microbiomes

While an increasing number of studies have evaluated tobacco microbiomes, comparative microbiome analyses across diverse tobacco products are non-existent. Moreover, to our knowledge, no previous studies have characterized the metabolically-active (live) fraction of tobacco bacterial communities and compared them across products. To address these knowledge gaps, we compared bacterial communities across four commercial products (cigarettes, little cigars, cigarillos and hookah) and one research cigarette product. After total DNA extraction (n = 414) from all samples, the V3V4 region of the 16S rRNA gene was sequenced on the Illumina HiSeq platform. To identify metabolically-active bacterial communities within these products, we applied a coupled 5-bromo-2'-deoxyuridine labeling and sequencing approach to a subset of samples (n = 56). Each tobacco product was characterized by its signature microbiome, along with a shared microbiome across all tobacco products consisting of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, P. putida, P. alcaligenes, Bacillus subtilis, and Klebsiella pneumoniae. Comparing across products (using Linear discriminant analysis Effect Size (LEfSe)), a significantly higher (p < 0.05) relative abundance of Klebsiella and Acinetobacter was observed in commercial cigarettes, while a higher relative abundance of Pseudomonas and Pantoea was observed in research cigarettes. Methylorubrum and Paenibacillus were higher in hookah, and Brevibacillus, Lactobacillus, Bacillus, Lysinibacillus, and Staphylococcus were higher in little cigars and cigarillos. Across all products, the majority of the metabolically-active bacterial communities belonged to the genus Pseudomonas, followed by several genera within the Firmicutes phylum (Bacillus, Terribacillus, and Oceanobacillus). Identification of some metabolically-active pathogens such as Bacillus cereus and Haemophilus parainfluenzae in commercial products is of concern because of the potential for these microorganisms to be transferred to users' respiratory tracts via mainstream smoke. Future work is warranted to evaluate the potential impact of these tobacco bacterial communities on users' oral and lung microbiomes, which play such an important role on the spectrum from health to disease.