Culturomics unveils species and expands bacterial and fungal diversity in Inuit oropharyngeal microbiota

Mathilde Flahaut, Philippe Leprohon, Nguyen Phuong Pham, Hélène Gingras, Jean Bourbeau, Barbara Papadopoulou, François Maltais, Marc Ouellette
2026 · doi:10.64898/2026.04.20.719640
preprint OA: closed
📄 Open PDF View at publisher

Abstract

Recent advances in high-throughput sequencing and novel culture techniques have revolutionized our understanding of the human microbiota. However, most studies primarily focused on bacterial communities, often overlooking the fungal component. Building upon our previous metagenomic analysis of the Inuit oropharyngeal microbiome 1 , this study used culturomics to provide a more comprehensive view of both bacterial and fungal communities. We analyzed oropharyngeal swabs from the Qanuilirpitaa? 2017 Inuit Health Survey 2 , demonstrating the complementarity of metagenomic and culturomic approaches. Our findings highlight the importance of culturomics in revealing low-abundance microorganisms, particularly fungi, which are often underrepresented in metagenomics data. Moreover, we designed an approach to isolate previously uncultivated species. We described two Pauljensenia sp., and provided insights into the phylogenetic relationship between Schaalia and Pauljensenia genera. This study underscores the necessity of a holistic approach to microbiome research, combining multiple techniques to fully elucidate microbial diversity in unique populations like the Inuit.

My notes (saved in your browser only)

Funding

funders
[{'doi': None, 'name': None, 'awards': []}, {'doi': None, 'name': 'Canadian Institutes of Health Research Foundation Grant', 'awards': []}]

Citation neighborhood (no data yet)

We don't have any in-corpus citations linked to this paper yet. This is a recent paper (2026) — citers typically take a year or two to land, and the OpenAlex reference graph may still be filling in.

References (48)

Source provenance

crossref
last seen: 2026-05-22T01:00:10.337150+00:00
europepmc
last seen: 2026-05-20T01:45:00.602351+00:00
unpaywall
last seen: 2026-07-27T06:55:32.580041+00:00