Genomic variation and strain-specific functional adaptation in the human gut microbiome during early life.

ABSTRACT: The human gut microbiome matures towards the adult composition during the first years of life and is implicated in early immune development. Here, we investigate the effects of microbial genomic diversity on gut microbiome development using integrated early childhood data sets collected in the DIABIMMUNE study in Finland, Estonia and Russian Karelia. We show that gut microbial diversity is associated with household location and linear growth of children. Single nucleotide polymorphism- and metagenomic assembly-based strain tracking revealed large and highly dynamic microbial pangenomes, especially in the genus Bacteroides, in which we identified evidence of variability deriving from Bacteroides-targeting bacteriophages. Our analyses revealed functional consequences of strain diversity; onl

SUBMITTER: Vatanen T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6384140 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature