Virome in the context of health and pathology of the human respiratory system

Abstract

The human body, along with extensive microbial communities called the microbiome, contains various viruses, collectively referred to as the «virome», and the number of such microorganisms is characterized by great complexity and heterogeneity and exceeds the number of bacteria in the microbiome by a factor of 10. Human virome is constantly renewed due to rapid evolution and entry of viruses from the environment, and the viral community of the human body is an indicator of human health. One of the components of virome is bacteriophages, the diversity of which is determined primarily by the species comprising the bacterial component of the microbiome. Along with other anatomical structures of the body, the respiratory tract of healthy humans is represented by a huge community of viruses just as much as by bacterial communities, and analysis of the full viral diversity of the airways is vital for understanding the features of the human virome. To date, next-generation sequencing approaches, the cost of which has decreased significantly recently, are the most convenient methods for virome analysis and the use of the results in clinical practice.