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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Aug 7, 2025

Analysis of Epididymal Protein Synthesis and Secretion

Analysis of Epididymal Protein Synthesis and Secretion

Published on: August 25, 2018

A transcriptomic insight into the human sperm microbiome through next-generation sequencing.

Celia Corral-Vazquez¹, Joan Blanco¹, Riccardo Aiese Cigliano²

¹Genetics of Male Fertility Group, Unitat de Biologia Cel·lular (Facultat de Biociències), Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Cerdanyola del Vallès, Spain.

Systems Biology in Reproductive Medicine

|March 10, 2023

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

This study used Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) to identify viruses and bacteria in human sperm. Researchers found distinct viral and bacterial RNA signatures, suggesting a unique sperm microbiome that may impact male fertility.

Keywords:

Bacteria Next-Generation Sequencing microbiome sperm viruses

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Last Updated: Aug 7, 2025

Analysis of Epididymal Protein Synthesis and Secretion

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Published on: August 25, 2018

A Method for Targeted 16S Sequencing of Human Milk Samples

A Method for Targeted 16S Sequencing of Human Milk Samples

Published on: March 23, 2018

Efficient Nucleic Acid Extraction and 16S rRNA Gene Sequencing for Bacterial Community Characterization

Efficient Nucleic Acid Extraction and 16S rRNA Gene Sequencing for Bacterial Community Characterization

Published on: April 14, 2016

Area of Science:

Microbiology
Genomics
Reproductive Biology

Background:

The human sperm microbiome remains largely unexplored.
Understanding its composition is crucial for male reproductive health.

Purpose of the Study:

To characterize the viral and bacterial RNA cargo in human sperm using Next Generation Sequencing (NGS).
To identify potential microbiome patterns within sperm samples from healthy fertile donors.

Main Methods:

RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) of poly(A) RNA from 12 human sperm samples.
Alignment to microbiome databases using GAIA software for quantification of Operational Taxonomic Units (OTU).
Hierarchical Cluster Analysis (HCA) and Principal Component Analysis (PCA) to identify microbiome patterns.

Main Results:

Sixteen microbiome categories (viral and bacterial) exceeded the expression threshold.
Viruses constituted 23.07% OTU and bacteria 2.77% OTU.
The Herperviriales order and Escherichia coli were the most abundant viral and bacterial taxa, respectively.
Four distinct sample clusters with unique microbiome fingerprints were identified.

Conclusions:

This pilot study provides novel insights into the human sperm microbiome composition.
Significant variability exists, but common microbiome patterns were observed among individuals.
Further standardized NGS studies are needed to fully understand the semen microbiome and its role in male fertility.