Cited by 54Gut microbiota and healthEscherichia coli research studiesAntibiotic Resistance in Bacteria

Strong pathogen competition in neonatal gut colonisation

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Mäklin, Tommi, Thorpe, Harry A., Pöntinen, Anna K., Gladstone, Rebecca A., Shao, Yan, Pesonen, Maiju, McNally, Alan, Johnsen, Pål J. +4 more·2022·Nature Communications

Published version of a preprint

Abstract

Opportunistic bacterial pathogen species and their strains that colonise the human gut are generally understood to compete against both each other and the commensal species colonising this ecosystem. Currently we are lacking a population-wide quantification of strain-level colonisation dynamics and the relationship of colonisation potential to prevalence in disease, and how ecological factors might be modulating these. Here, using a combination of latest high-resolution metagenomics and strain-level genomic epidemiology methods we performed a characterisation of the competition and colonisation dynamics for a longitudinal cohort of neonatal gut microbiomes. We found strong inter- and intra-species competition dynamics in the gut colonisation process, but also a number of synergistic relationships among several species belonging to genus Klebsiella , which includes the prominent human pathogen Klebsiella pneumoniae . No evidence of preferential colonisation by hospital-adapted pathogen lineages in either vaginal or caesarean section birth groups was detected. Our analysis further enabled unbiased assessment of strain-level colonisation potential of extra-intestinal pathogenic Escherichia coli (ExPEC) in comparison with their propensity to cause bloodstream infections. Our study highlights the importance of systematic surveillance of bacterial gut pathogens, not only from disease but also from carriage state, to better inform therapies and preventive medicine in the future.

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  • High-resolution shotgun metagenomic screening of newborns in the UK has shown that pks-island-carrying E. coli of the B2 phylotype frequently colonize as early as the first 15 days of life.

    “High-resolution shotgun metagenomic screening of newborns in the UK has shown that pks-island-carrying E. coli of the B2 phylotype frequently colonize as early as the first 15 days of life [159].”

    From Selection, Comparative Genomics, and Potential Probiotic Features of Escherichia coli 5C, a pks-Negative Strain Isolated from Healthy Infant Donor Feces (2026) · cites this paper as [159]

    The Introduction and Methods (Sequencing data; page unavailable) describe deep shotgun metagenomic analysis of neonatal stool, and the Results (Neonatal gut colonisation; page unavailable) report E. coli colonisation at 4 and 7 days after birth. But the copy does not establish that those early-colonising E. coli frequently carried the pks island or belonged to the B2 phylotype; searches for pks, B2 and colibactin did not find that combination. (LLM, conf=0.88)

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Research works printed but not linked: 1

  1. [35]Ferretti, P. et al. C. difficile is overdiagnosed in adults and a commensal in infants. Preprint at bioRxiv10.1101/2022.02.16.480740 (2022).

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Authors
Mäklin, T., Thorpe, H. A., Pöntinen, A. K., Gladstone, R. A., Shao, Y., Pesonen, M., McNally, A., Johnsen, P. J., Samuelsen, Ø., Lawley, T. D., Honkela, A., & Corander, J.
Affiliations
  • University of Helsinki (FI)
  • University of Oslo (NO)
  • University Hospital of North Norway (NO)
  • Wellcome Sanger Institute (GB)
  • University of Birmingham (GB)
  • UiT The Arctic University of Norway (NO)
Corresponding author
  • Mäklin, Tommi
  • Corander, Jukka
Venue
Nature Communications
Published
2022-12-01
Volume
13
Issue
1
Pages
7417-7417
ISSN
2041-1723 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W4310699959
Cited by
54
References
60
Citations by year
2026: 8 · 2025: 15 · 2024: 17 · 2023: 12 · 2022: 1 · 2014: 1
FWCI
3.67
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Nature Communications (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) (acceptedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
  • Työväentutkimus Vuosikirja (submittedVersion)
  • NORA - Norwegian Open Research Archives (submittedVersion, cc-by)
  • University of Birmingham Research Portal (University of Birmingham) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
  • Research Explorer (The University of Manchester) (submittedVersion)
Funders
  • European High Performance Computing Joint Undertaking
  • Wellcome Trust (742158, 108413, 108413 /A/15/D, 206194)
  • Trond Mohn stiftelse
  • Academy of Finland
  • Finnish Center for Artificial Intelligence
  • H2020 European Research Council (742158)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Gut microbiota and health
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Endocrinology › Escherichia coli research studies
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Medicine › Antibiotic Resistance in Bacteria
Keywords
pathogen competition, gut microbiota, Klebsiella, Klebsiella pneumoniae, extraintestinal pathogenic Escherichia coli, vaginal delivery, cesarean section, bloodstream infection, opportunistic bacteria, metagenomics
MeSH terms
Cesarean Section, Escherichia coli, Female, Humans, Infant, Newborn, Klebsiella, Pregnancy, Ecosystem, Parturition, Metagenomics

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