Cited by 2,877Gut microbiota and healthInfant Nutrition and HealthMicrobial Community Ecology and Physiology

Development of the Human Infant Intestinal Microbiota

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Palmer, Chana, Bik, Elisabeth M, DiGiulio, Daniel B, Relman, David A, Brown, Patrick O·2007·PLoS Biology

Abstract

Almost immediately after a human being is born, so too is a new microbial ecosystem, one that resides in that person's gastrointestinal tract. Although it is a universal and integral part of human biology, the temporal progression of this process, the sources of the microbes that make up the ecosystem, how and why it varies from one infant to another, and how the composition of this ecosystem influences human physiology, development, and disease are still poorly understood. As a step toward systematically investigating these questions, we designed a microarray to detect and quantitate the small subunit ribosomal RNA (SSU rRNA) gene sequences of most currently recognized species and taxonomic groups of bacteria. We used this microarray, along with sequencing of cloned libraries of PCR-amplified SSU rDNA, to profile the microbial communities in an average of 26 stool samples each from 14 healthy, full-term human infants, including a pair of dizygotic twins, beginning with the first stool after birth and continuing at defined intervals throughout the first year of life. To investigate possible origins of the infant microbiota, we also profiled vaginal and milk samples from most of the mothers, and stool samples from all of the mothers, most of the fathers, and two siblings. The composition and temporal patterns of the microbial communities varied widely from baby to baby. Despite considerable temporal variation, the distinct features of each baby's microbial community were recognizable for intervals of weeks to months. The strikingly parallel temporal patterns of the twins suggested that incidental environmental exposures play a major role in determining the distinctive characteristics of the microbial community in each baby. By the end of the first year of life, the idiosyncratic microbial ecosystems in each baby, although still distinct, had converged toward a profile characteristic of the adult gastrointestinal tract.

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Crossref · 10.1371/journal.pbio.0050177

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  • As the infant matures, strict anaerobes gradually take over as the dominant taxa, and overall diversity increases to adult-like levels by around 1-3 years of age, coinciding with weaning and a shift to solid food intake.

    “As the infant matures, strict anaerobes gradually take over as the dominant taxa, and there is an increase in overall diversity to adult-like levels by around 1-3 years of age, coinciding with weaning and a shift to solid food intake (Koenig et al., 2011;Palmer et al., 2007;Yatsunenko et al., 2012).”

    From The Microbiota-Gut-Brain Axis (2019) · cites this paper as Palmer et al., 2007

    The Results (Overview of Microarray-Based Bacterial Population Profiles) say later colonizers tended to be strict anaerobes. The Results (Temporal Trends) report that stool communities at age 1 year and older resembled adult communities and that the transition often followed introduction of solid foods. They do not establish that overall diversity reached adult levels, or document a transition through age 3; the observed timing of shifts was not consistent. Page numbers are unavailable in our copy. (LLM, conf=0.88)

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  • In the months to years after birth, gut microbial communities shift in response to life events such as solid food exposure, illnesses, and antibiotics, with gradual diversity increases and convergence to an adult-like microbiota.

    “In the subsequent months to years, gut microbial communities continue to shift in response to key life events (e.g., exposure to solid foods, illnesses, antibiotics) with gradual increases in diversity and convergence to an “adult-like” microbiota9–11.”

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Research works printed but not linked: 4

  1. Xu J Gordon JI 2003 Inaugural article: Honor thy symbionts Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 100 10452 10459 12923294 10.1073/pnas.1734063100 PMC193582 · DOI
  2. Mandar R Mikelsaar M 1996 Transmission of mother's microflora to the newborn at birth Biol Neonate 69 30 35 8777246 10.1159/000244275 · DOI
  3. Salzman NH de Jong H Paterson Y Harmsen HJ Welling GW 2002 Analysis of 16S libraries of mouse gastrointestinal microflora reveals a large new group of mouse intestinal bacteria Microbiology 148 3651 3660 12427955 10.1099/00221287-148-11-3651 · DOI
  4. White TJ Burns T Lee S Taylor J 1990 Amplification and sequencing of fungal ribosomal RNA genes for phylogenetics Innis MA Gelfand DH Sninsky JJ White TJ PCR protocols A guide to methods and applications San Diego (California) Academic Press 315 322

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Authors
Palmer, C., Bik, E. M., DiGiulio, D. B., Relman, D. A., & Brown, P. O.
Affiliations
  • Stanford Medicine (US)
  • VA Palo Alto Health Care System (US)
  • Howard Hughes Medical Institute (US)
Corresponding author
Brown, Patrick O
Venue
PLoS Biology
Published
2007-06-26
Volume
5
Issue
7
Pages
e177
ISSN
  • 1544-9173 (ISSN-L)
  • 1545-7885
OpenAlex
W2052969143
Cited by
2,877
References
62
Citations by year
2026: 47 · 2025: 82 · 2024: 112 · 2023: 120 · 2022: 160 · 2021: 160 · 2020: 170 · 2019: 172 · 2018: 169 · 2017: 185 · 2016: 215 · 2015: 197 · 2014: 216 · 2013: 222 · 2012: 204
FWCI
39.84
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • PLoS Biology (publishedVersion, public-domain)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, public-domain)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
  • Figshare (submittedVersion, cc-by)
Funders
  • Howard Hughes Medical Institute
  • National Institutes of Health (DP1OD000964)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Gut microbiota and health
  • Health Sciences › Nursing › Nutrition and Dietetics › Infant Nutrition and Health
  • Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Ecology › Microbial Community Ecology and Physiology
Keywords
infant gut microbiota, microbial community development, fecal samples, dizygotic twins, microbial origin, breast milk, environmental exposure, microbial diversity
MeSH terms
Adult, Age Factors, Bacteria, Base Sequence, Feces, Female, Humans, Infant, Infant, Newborn, Intestines, Male, Milk, Human, RNA, Bacterial, RNA, Ribosomal, Twins, Dizygotic, Vagina, Colony Count, Microbial, Ecosystem, DNA Primers, Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis, Metagenome

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