ArticleJournal of assisted reproduction and genetics2020
What human sperm RNA-Seq tells us about the microbiome.
Article in Journal of assisted reproduction and genetics, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
8 citing papers in PubMed, 23 citations in OpenAlex.
- Unfolding the Semen Microbiota: Implications for Male Infertility.Biomedicines · 2026Review
- RNA in Plasma Extracellular Vesicles of Adolescent Rhesus Macaques Reveals Immune, Bioenergetic, and Microbial Imprints of Early-Life Adversity: An Exploratory Analysis.Biological psychiatry · 2026Article
- Epidemiological and pathogen characteristics of symptomatic male reproductive tract infections in Hunan province: retrospective study.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- RNA Sequencing of Sperm from Healthy Cattle and Horses Reveals the Presence of a Large Bacterial Population.Current issues in molecular biology · 2024Article
- Unraveling the Intricacies of the Seminal Microbiome and Its Impact on Human Fertility.Biology · 2024Review
- Characterization of boar semen microbiome and association with sperm quality parameters.Journal of animal science · 2023Article
- The repertoire of testicular extracellular vesicle cargoes and their involvement in inter-compartmental communication associated with spermatogenesis.BMC biology · 2022Article
- Semen dysbiosis-just a male problem?Frontiers in cellular and infection microbiology · 2022Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
purposeThe study was designed to assess the capacity of human sperm RNA-seq data to gauge the diversity of the associated microbiome within the ejaculate.
methodsSemen samples were collected, and semen parameters evaluated at time of collection. Sperm RNA was isolated and subjected to RNA-seq. Microbial composition was determined by aligning sequencing reads not mapped to the human genome to the NCBI RefSeq bacterial, viral and archaeal genomes following RNA-Seq. Analysis of microbial assignments utilized phyloseq and vegan.
resultsMicrobial composition within each sample was characterized as a function of microbial associated RNAs. Bacteria known to be associated with the male reproductive tract were present at similar levels in all samples representing 11 genera from four phyla with one exception, an outlier. Shannon diversity index (p < 0.001) and beta diversity (unweighted UniFrac distances, p = 9.99e-4; beta dispersion, p = 0.006) indicated the outlier was significantly different from all other samples. The outlier sample exhibited a dramatic increase in Streptococcus. Multiple testing indicated two operational taxonomic units, S. agalactiae and S. dysgalactiae (p = 0.009), were present.
conclusionThese results provide a first look at the microbiome as a component of human sperm RNA sequencing that has sufficient sensitivity to identify contamination or potential pathogenic bacterial colonization at least among the known contributors.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.