Human milk oligosaccharides modify the strength of priority effects in the Bifidobacterium community assembly during infancy.

ABSTRACT: Despite the significant role of the gut microbiota in infant health and development, little is known about the ecological processes determining gut microbial community assembly. According to ecology theory, the timing and order of arrival of microbial species into an ecosystem affect microbial community assembly, a phenomenon termed priority effects. Bifidobacterium species are recognized as highly abundant early colonizers of the infant's gut, partly due to their ability to selectively utilize human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs) from breast milk. However, the role of priority effects in Bifidobacterium community assembly remains unclear. Here, we investigated the Bifidobacterium community assembly in the gut of 25 breastfed Danish infants longitudinally sampled throughout the first 6 month

SUBMITTER: Laursen MF 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10689826 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature