Background. Cystic fibrosis (CF) is characterized by chronic airway infections involving a complex and dynamic microbial lung community. Though several studies have investigated the taxonomic composition of the airway microbiota, little is still known about the overall functional capabilities of the resident microbial populations and their relation to patient’s lung disease status.

Hypothesis and objectives. Previous studies found changes in CF airway microbiota associated with a severe decline in lung function. The overall goal of this project – which follows the FFC#10/2014 project – is to deeply investigate the airway microbiome of stable (S) and substantial decliners patients (SD) and single patients’ dynamics over a 15-month period, to discover the functional traits harbored by microbial communities and new microbiome-based biomarkers, which may be predictive of decline in lung function.