Cited by 201Gut microbiota and healthMicrobial Community Ecology and PhysiologyOral microbiology and periodontitis research

Experimental evaluation of the importance of colonization history in early-life gut microbiota assembly

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Martínez, Inés, Maldonado-Gomez, Maria X, Gomes-Neto, João Carlos, Kittana, Hatem, Ding, Hua, Schmaltz, Robert, Joglekar, Payal, Cardona, Roberto Jiménez +6 more·2018·eLife

Abstract

The factors that govern assembly of the gut microbiota are insufficiently understood. Here, we test the hypothesis that inter-individual microbiota variation can arise solely from differences in the order and timing by which the gut is colonized early in life. Experiments in which mice were inoculated in sequence either with two complex seed communities or a cocktail of four bacterial strains and a seed community revealed that colonization order influenced both the outcome of community assembly and the ecological success of individual colonizers. Historical contingency and priority effects also occurred in Rag1-/- mice, suggesting that the adaptive immune system is not a major contributor to these processes. In conclusion, this study established a measurable effect of colonization history on gut microbiota assembly in a model in which host and environmental factors were strictly controlled, illuminating a potential cause for the high levels of unexplained individuality in host-associated microbial communities.

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  • The microbiota tends to follow one of a few trajectories of development, with early-colonizing species shaping the long-term composition.

    “However, it is known that the microbiota tends to follow one of a few trajectories of development, with early-colonizing species shaping the long-term composition (Martinez et al., 2018).”

    From The Microbiota-Gut-Brain Axis (2019) · cites this paper as Martinez et al., 2018

    The Discussion reports that changing the arrival timing of four species altered the community’s long-term developmental trajectory, supporting the role of early colonizers. It does not establish that microbiota generally follow only a few trajectories; it emphasizes stochastic assembly and inter-individual variation. The experiments were in mice and tested two communities and four specific members. (LLM, conf=0.88)

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Authors
Martínez, I., Maldonado-Gomez, M. X., Gomes-Neto, J. C., Kittana, H., Ding, H., Schmaltz, R., Joglekar, P., Cardona, R. J., Marsteller, N. L., Kembel, S. W., Benson, A. K., Peterson, D. A., Ramer-Tait, A. E., & Walter, J.
Affiliations
  • University of Nebraska–Lincoln (US)
  • Department of Food Science and Technology, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, United States
  • Johns Hopkins University (US)
  • Université du Québec à Montréal (CA)
Corresponding author
Walter, Jens
Venue
eLife
Published
2018-09-18
Volume
7
ISSN
2050-084X (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W2890655424
Cited by
199
References
91
Citations by year
2026: 13 · 2025: 25 · 2024: 29 · 2023: 24 · 2022: 30 · 2021: 27 · 2020: 29 · 2019: 21 · 2018: 1
FWCI
6.94
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • eLife (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Lincoln (University of Nebraska) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
Funders
  • National Institutes of Health (5R01GM099525-02)
  • National Institute of General Medical Sciences (1P20GM104320)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Gut microbiota and health
  • Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Ecology › Microbial Community Ecology and Physiology
  • Health Sciences › Dentistry › Periodontics › Oral microbiology and periodontitis research
Keywords
colonization history, priority effects, historical contingency, microbial community assembly, Rag1-deficient mice, adaptive immunity, microbial inoculation, host-associated microbiome
MeSH terms
Gastrointestinal Microbiome, Animals, Bacteria, Cecum, Mice, Inbred C57BL, Time Factors, Colony Count, Microbial, Homeodomain Proteins, Models, Animal, Biodiversity, Adaptive Immunity

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