Affiliation:
1. School of Biotechnology and Biomolecular Sciences, University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales 2052, Australia
Abstract
The human gut microbiota is transmitted from mother to infant through vaginal birth and breastfeeding.
Bifidobacterium
, a genus that dominates the infants’ gut, is adapted to breast milk in its ability to metabolize human milk oligosaccharides; it is regarded as a mutualist owing to its involvement in the development of the immune system. The composition of microbiota, including the abundance of Bifidobacteria, is highly variable between individuals and some microbial profiles are associated with diseases. However, whether and how birth and feeding practices contribute to such variation remains unclear. To understand how early events affect the establishment of microbiota, we develop a mathematical model of two types of Bifidobacteria and a generic compartment of commensal competitors. We show how early events affect competition between mutualists and commensals and microbe-host-immune interactions to cause long-term alterations in gut microbial profiles. Bifidobacteria associated with breast milk can trigger immune responses with lasting effects on the microbial community structure. Our model shows that, in response to a change in birth environment, competition alone can produce two distinct microbial profiles post-weaning. Adding immune regulation to our competition model allows for variations in microbial profiles in response to different feeding practices. This analysis highlights the importance of microbe–microbe and microbe–host interactions in shaping the gut populations following different birth and feeding modes.
Funder
Australian Research Council
Subject
General Agricultural and Biological Sciences,General Environmental Science,General Immunology and Microbiology,General Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology,General Medicine
Cited by
8 articles.
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