Succession of microbial consortia in the developing infant gut microbiome.

ABSTRACT: The colonization process of the infant gut microbiome has been called chaotic, but this view could reflect insufficient documentation of the factors affecting the microbiome. We performed a 2.5-y case study of the assembly of the human infant gut microbiome, to relate life events to microbiome composition and function. Sixty fecal samples were collected from a healthy infant along with a diary of diet and health status. Analysis of >300,000 16S rRNA genes indicated that the phylogenetic diversity of the microbiome increased gradually over time and that changes in community composition conformed to a smooth temporal gradient. In contrast, major taxonomic groups showed abrupt shifts in abundance corresponding to changes in diet or health. Community assembly was nonrandom: we observed discret

SUBMITTER: Koenig JE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3063592 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature