TY - JOUR T1 - A molecular comparison of microbial communities in bronchiectasis and cystic fibrosis JF - European Respiratory Journal JO - Eur Respir J SP - 991 LP - 993 DO - 10.1183/09031936.00052712 VL - 41 IS - 4 AU - Rachael M. Duff AU - Nicholas J. Simmonds AU - Jane C. Davies AU - Robert Wilson AU - Eric W. Alton AU - Panagiotis Pantelidis AU - Michael J. Cox AU - William O.C.M. Cookson AU - Diana Bilton AU - Miriam F. Moffatt Y1 - 2013/04/01 UR - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/41/4/991.abstract N2 - To the Editor:Chronic bacterial infections play an important role in disease progression in patients with bronchiectasis (BX) and cystic fibrosis (CF). Although only a few per cent of all bacteria can be cultured routinely in the laboratory [1], most bacteria can be identified through sequencing the variable regions of their 16S rRNA gene [2]. DNA studies in patients with CF revealed a more complex microbiota than was identified by standard culture [3, 4], leading us to test by sequencing whether BX may have a similarly complex polymicrobial state.Approval was gained from the Brompton, Harefield and NHLI Research Ethics Committee and all subjects provided written consent. We collected sputa from 11 patients with BX (mean±sd age years 59.6±11.6) and 10 with CF (mean±sd age years 30.8±5.3). An aliquot of sputum was cultured following CF Trust microbiology guidelines [5]. Following lysis and DNA extraction we amplified a hyper-variable region of the 16S rRNA gene, and cloned, sequenced and analysed the products as described [6]. 96 clones were analysed for each patient. Sequences are stored as GenBank accession numbers JN212577–JN214344.At the time of study, five of 11 BX patients were being treated with i.v. antibiotics for an acute exacerbation. Four patients were receiving treatment for chronic fungal pulmonary disease. Other antibiotics (oral or nebulised) were being administered long term, either as long-term anti-infective … ER -