“…Although the composition of the ocular microbiome is still under dispute, data have become available to indicate the distribution characteristics of OS microbial communities in health and disease states. Recent studies have demonstrated the potential relationship between changes in the OS microbiome and some conditions, such as trachoma, 11 fungal keratitis, 12,13 ulcerative bacterial keratitis, 14 conjunctivitis, 15 dry eye, 16 mesangial gland dysfunction, 17,18 blepharitis, 19 and contact lens wearing. 20,21 However, all of these studies were based on 16S rRNA gene sequencing, which, despite contributing to understanding the potential diversity of the OS bacterial flora, has limited ability to characterize nonbacterial components and functional profiles of the OS microbiome.…”