Longitudinal quantification of Bifidobacterium longum subsp. infantis reveals late colonization in the infant gut independent of maternal milk HMO composition.

ABSTRACT: Breast milk contains human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs) that cannot be digested by infants, yet nourish their developing gut microbiome. While Bifidobacterium are the best-known utilizers of individual HMOs, a longitudinal study examining the evolving microbial community at high-resolution coupled with mothers' milk HMO composition is lacking. Here, we developed a high-throughput method to quantify Bifidobacterium longum subsp. infantis (BL. infantis), a proficient HMO-utilizer, and applied it to a longitudinal cohort consisting of 21 mother-infant dyads. We observed substantial changes in the infant gut microbiome over the course of several months, while the HMO composition in mothers' milk remained relatively stable. Although Bifidobacterium species significantly influenced sample variat

SUBMITTER: Ennis D 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10827747 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature