Fig. 1.

A Bacterial taxonomy: classification of the organisms in a rank-based classification (left) and exemplary taxonomical classification of Moraxella ssp according to bacterial taxonomy (right). B Distribution of common phyla and genera in the airways of healthy and asthmatic subjects: The graph depicts the relative abundance (in %) of the five most common phyla of bacteria colonizing the human airways and lung in healthy (white bars) and in asthmatic (black bars) subjects. Phyla Actinobacteria, Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes are less abundant in airways of asthmatics, while Proteobacteria are enriched. The table includes bacterial genera that seem to have a growth advantage in asthmatic airways, such as Moraxella and Haemophilus from Proteobacteria. In contrast, some genera are less abundant in asthmatics such as Prevotella and Corynebacterium, leading to a dysbiosis of the airway microbiome