Copyright © 2008 James A. Foster et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Linked References

1. H. L. Cash, C. V. Whitham, C. L. Behrendt, and L. V. Hooper, “Symbiotic bacteria direct expression of an intestinal bactericidal lectin,” Science, vol. 313, no. 5790, pp. 1126–1130, 2006. View at Publisher · View at Google Scholar · View at PubMed
2. L. Dethlefsen, M. McFall-Ngai, and D. A. Relman, “An ecological and evolutionary perspective on humang-microbe mutualism and disease,” Nature, vol. 449, no. 7164, pp. 811–818, 2007. View at Publisher · View at Google Scholar · View at PubMed
3. R. E. Ley, D. A. Peterson, and J. I. Gordon, “Ecological and evolutionary forces shaping microbial diversity in the human intestine,” Cell, vol. 124, no. 4, pp. 837–848, 2006. View at Publisher · View at Google Scholar · View at PubMed
4. R. E. Ley, P. J. Turnbaugh, S. Klein, and J. I. Gordon, “Microbial ecology: human gut microbes associated with obesity,” Nature, vol. 444, no. 7122, pp. 1022–1023, 2006. View at Publisher · View at Google Scholar · View at PubMed
5. S. K. Mazmanian, C. H. Liu, A. O. Tzianabos, and D. L. Kasper, “An immunomodulatory molecule of symbiotic bacteria directs maturation of the host immune system,” Cell, vol. 122, no. 1, pp. 107–118, 2005. View at Publisher · View at Google Scholar · View at PubMed
6. P. J. Turnbaugh, R. E. Ley, M. A. Mahowald, V. Magrini, E. R. Mardis, and J. I. Gordon, “An obesity-associated gut microbiome with increased capacity for energy harvest,” Nature, vol. 444, no. 7122, pp. 1027–1031, 2006. View at Publisher · View at Google Scholar · View at PubMed
7. S. L. Hillier, M. E. Krohn, S. J. Klebanoff, and D. A. Eschenbach, “The relationship of hydrogen peroxide-producing lactobacilli to bacterial vaginosis and genital microflora in pregnant women,” Obstetrics & Gynecology, vol. 79, no. 3, pp. 369–373, 1992.
8. N. Sewankambo, R. H. Gray, M. J. Wawer, et al., “HIV-1 infection associated with abnormal vaginal flora morphology and bacterial vaginosis,” The Lancet, vol. 350, no. 9077, pp. 546–550, 1997. View at Publisher · View at Google Scholar
9. J. D. Sobel, “Is there a protective role for vaginal flora?,” Current Infectious Disease Reports, vol. 1, no. 4, pp. 379–383, 1999. View at Publisher · View at Google Scholar
10. J. H. H. M. van de Wijgert, P. R. Mason, L. Gwanzura, et al., “Intravaginal practices, vaginal flora disturbances, and acquisition of sexually transmitted diseases in Zimbabwean women,” The Journal of Infectious Diseases, vol. 181, no. 2, pp. 587–594, 2000. View at Publisher · View at Google Scholar · View at PubMed
11. H. C. Wiesenfeld, S. L. Hillier, M. A. Krohn, D. V. Landers, and R. L. Sweet, “Bacterial vaginosis is a strong predictor of Neisseria gonorrhoeae and Chlamydia trachomatis infection,” Clinical Infectious Diseases, vol. 36, no. 5, pp. 663–668, 2003. View at Publisher · View at Google Scholar · View at PubMed
12. K. Gupta, A. E. Stapleton, T. M. Hooton, P. L. Roberts, C. L. Fennell, and W. E. Stamm, “Inverse association of ${\text{H}}_2{\text{O}}_2$-producing lactobacilli and vaginal Escherichia coli colonization in women with recurrent urinary tract infections,” The Journal of Infectious Diseases, vol. 178, no. 2, pp. 446–450, 1998.
13. E. R. Boskey, K. M. Telsch, K. J. Whaley, T. R. Moench, and R. A. Cone, “Acid production by vaginal flora in vitro is consistent with the rate and extent of vaginal acidification,” Infection and Immunity, vol. 67, no. 10, pp. 5170–5175, 1999.
14. D. H. Owen and D. F. Katz, “A vaginal fluid simulant,” Contraception, vol. 59, no. 2, pp. 91–95, 1999. View at Publisher · View at Google Scholar
15. P. G. Larsson and U. Forsum, “Bacterial vaginosis—a disturbed bacterial flora and treatment enigma,” APMIS, vol. 113, no. 5, pp. 305–316, 2005. View at Publisher · View at Google Scholar
16. R. Amsel, P. A. Totten, C. A. Spiegel, K. C. Chen, D. Eschenbach, and K. K. Holmes, “Nonspecific vaginitis: diagnostic criteria and microbial and epidemiologic associations,” The American Journal of Medicine, vol. 74, no. 1, pp. 14–22, 1983. View at Publisher · View at Google Scholar
17. M. J. Wawer, N. K. Sewankambo, D. Serwadda, et al., “Control of sexually transmitted diseases for AIDS prevention in Uganda: a randomised community trial,” The Lancet, vol. 353, no. 9152, pp. 525–535, 1999. View at Publisher · View at Google Scholar
18. C. L. Haggerty, S. L. Hillier, D. C. Bass, and R. B. Ness, “Bacterial vaginosis and anaerobic bacteria are associated with endometritis,” Clinical Infectious Diseases, vol. 39, no. 7, pp. 990–995, 2004. View at Publisher · View at Google Scholar · View at PubMed
19. P. E. Hay, “Bacterial vaginosis and miscarriage,” Current Opinion in Infectious Diseases, vol. 17, no. 1, pp. 41–44, 2004. View at Publisher · View at Google Scholar
20. S. L. Hillier, R. P. Nugent, D. A. Eschenbach, et al., “Association between bacterial vaginosis and preterm delivery of a low-birth-weight infant,” The New England Journal of Medicine, vol. 333, no. 26, pp. 1737–1742, 1995. View at Publisher · View at Google Scholar
21. H. Leitich, B. Bodner-Adler, M. Brunbauer, A. Kaider, C. Egarter, and P. Husslein, “Bacterial vaginosis as a risk factor for preterm delivery: a meta-analysis,” American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, vol. 189, no. 1, pp. 139–147, 2003. View at Publisher · View at Google Scholar
22. R. L. Sweet, “Role of bacterial vaginosis in pelvic inflammatory disease,” Clinical Infectious Diseases, vol. 20, pp. S271–S275, 1995.
23. H. C. Wiesenfeld, S. L. Hillier, M. A. Krohn, et al., “Lower genital tract infection and endometritis: insight into subclinical pelvic inflammatory disease,” Obstetrics & Gynecology, vol. 100, no. 3, pp. 456–463, 2002. View at Publisher · View at Google Scholar
24. H. L. Martin, Jr., B. A. Richardson, P. M. Nyange, et al., “Vaginal lactobacilli, microbial flora, and risk of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 and sexually transmitted disease acquisition,” The Journal of Infectious Diseases, vol. 180, no. 6, pp. 1863–1868, 1999. View at Publisher · View at Google Scholar · View at PubMed
25. T. E. Taha, D. R. Hoover, G. A. Dallabetta, et al., “Bacterial vaginosis and disturbances of vaginal flora: association with increased acquisition of HIV,” AIDS, vol. 12, no. 13, pp. 1699–1706, 1998. View at Publisher · View at Google Scholar
26. J. M. Marrazzo, “Bacterial vaginosis,” Current Treatment Options for Infectious Diseases, vol. 5, pp. 63–68, 2003.
27. J. D. Sobel, “Bacterial vaginosis,” Annual Review of Medicine, vol. 51, no. 1, pp. 349–356, 2000. View at Publisher · View at Google Scholar · View at PubMed
28. L. J. Forney, J. A. Foster, and W. Ledger, “The vaginal flora of healthy women is not always dominated by Lactobacillus species,” The Journal of Infectious Diseases, vol. 194, no. 10, pp. 1468–1469, 2006. View at Publisher · View at Google Scholar · View at PubMed
29. X. Zhou, S. J. Bent, M. G. Schneider, C. C. Davis, M. R. Islam, and L. J. Forney, “Characterization of vaginal microbial communities in adult healthy women using cultivation-independent methods,” Microbiology, vol. 150, no. 8, pp. 2565–2573, 2004. View at Publisher · View at Google Scholar · View at PubMed
30. X. Zhou, C. J. Brown, Z. Abdo, et al., “Differences in the composition of vaginal microbial communities found in healthy Caucasian and black women,” The ISME Journal, vol. 1, no. 2, pp. 121–133, 2007. View at Publisher · View at Google Scholar · View at PubMed
31. R. W. Hyman, M. Fukushima, L. Diamond, J. Kumm, L. C. Giudice, and R. W. Davis, “Microbes on the human vaginal epithelium,” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, vol. 102, no. 22, pp. 7952–7957, 2005. View at Publisher · View at Google Scholar · View at PubMed
32. A. Sundquist, S. Bigdeli, R. Jalili, et al., “Bacterial flora-typing with targeted, chip-based Pyrosequencing,” BMC Microbiology, vol. 7, article 108, pp. 1–11, 2007. View at Publisher · View at Google Scholar · View at PubMed
33. R. Verhelst, H. Verstraelen, G. Claeys, et al., “Cloning of 16S rRNA genes amplified from normal and disturbed vaginal microflora suggests a strong association between Atopobium vaginae, Gardnerella vaginalis and bacterial vaginosis,” BMC Microbiology, vol. 4, article 16, pp. 1–11, 2004. View at Publisher · View at Google Scholar · View at PubMed
34. J. V. McArthur, Microbial Ecology: An Evolutionary Approach, Academic Press, New York, NY, USA, 2006.
35. E. M. Hebert, R. R. Raya, and G. S. De Giori, “Nutritional requirements and nitrogen-dependent regulation of proteinase activity of Lactobacillus helveticus CRL 1062,” Applied and Environmental Microbiology, vol. 66, no. 12, pp. 5316–5321, 2000. View at Publisher · View at Google Scholar
36. O. Kandler and N. Weiss, Bergey's Manual of Systematic Bacteriology, Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, Baltimore, Md, USA, 1986.
37. T. Morishita, Y. Deguchi, M. Yajima, T. Sakurai, and T. Yura, “Multiple nutritional requirements of lactobacilli: genetic lesions affecting amino acid biosynthetic pathways,” Journal of Bacteriology, vol. 148, no. 1, pp. 64–71, 1981.
38. M. A. Riley and J. E. Wertz, “BACTERIOCINS: evolution, ecology, and application,” Annual Review of Microbiology, vol. 56, no. 1, pp. 117–137, 2002. View at Publisher · View at Google Scholar · View at PubMed
39. H. Kitano, “Computational systems biology,” Nature, vol. 420, no. 6912, pp. 206–210, 2002. View at Publisher · View at Google Scholar · View at PubMed
40. P. J. Morin, Community Ecology, Blackwell Science, New York, NY, USA, 1999.
41. P. Crucitti, V. Latora, M. Marchiori, and A. Rapisarda, “Efficiency of scale-free networks: error and attack tolerance,” Physica A, vol. 320, pp. 622–642, 2003. View at Publisher · View at Google Scholar
42. R. Albert and A.-L. Barabási, “Statistical mechanics of complex networks,” Reviews of Modern Physics, vol. 74, no. 1, pp. 47–97, 2002. View at Publisher · View at Google Scholar · View at Zentralblatt MATH · View at MathSciNet
43. M. Labrum, T. Soule, A. Blue, and S. M. Krone, “On the evolution of structure in ecological networks,” in Proceedings of 5th International Conference on Complex Systems (ICCS '04), A. Minai and Y. Bar-Yam, Eds., Springer, Boston, Mass, USA, May 2004.
44. J. M. Montoya and R. V. Solé, “Topological properties of food webs: from real data to community assembly models,” Oikos, vol. 102, no. 3, pp. 614–622, 2003. View at Publisher · View at Google Scholar
45. J. M. Montoya and R. V. Solé, “Small world patterns in food webs,” Journal of Theoretical Biology, vol. 214, no. 3, pp. 405–412, 2002. View at Publisher · View at Google Scholar · View at PubMed
46. K. Christensen, R. Donangelo, B. Koiller, and K. Sneppen, “Evolution of random networks,” Physical Review Letters, vol. 81, no. 11, pp. 2380–2383, 1998. View at Publisher · View at Google Scholar
47. R. V. Solé and J. M. Montoya, “Complexity and fragility in ecological networks,” Proceedings of the Royal Society B, vol. 268, no. 1480, pp. 2039–2045, 2001. View at Publisher · View at Google Scholar · View at PubMed
48. J. A. Dunne, R. J. Williams, and N. D. Martinez, “Network structure and biodiversity loss in food webs: robustness increases with connectance,” Ecology Letters, vol. 5, no. 4, pp. 558–567, 2002. View at Publisher · View at Google Scholar