The contribution of maternal oral, vaginal, and gut microbiota to the developing offspring gut

Abstract

There is limited understanding of how the microbiota colonizing various maternal tissues contribute to the development of the neonatal gut microbiota (GM). To determine the contribution of various maternal microbiotic sites to the offspring microbiota in the upper and lower gastrointestinal tract (GIT) during early life, litters of mice were sacrificed at 7, 9, 10, 11, 12, 14, and 21 days of age, and fecal and ileal samples were collected. Dams were euthanized alongside their pups, and oral, vaginal, ileal, and fecal samples were collected. This was done in parallel using mice with either a low-richness or high-richness microbiota to assess the consistency of findings across multiple microbial compositions. Sample were analyzed using 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing. The similarities between matched pup and dam samples were used to determine the contribution of each maternal source to the pup fecal and ileal composition at each timepoint. As expected, similarity between pup and maternal feces increased significantly over time. During earlier time-points however, the offspring fecal and ileal microbiotas were closer in composition to the maternal oral microbiota than other maternal sites. Prominent taxa contributed by the maternal oral microbiota to the neonatal gut microbiota were supplier-dependent and included Lactobacillus spp., Streptococcus spp., and a member of the Pasteurellaceae family. These findings align with the microbial taxa reported in infant microbiotas, highlighting the translatability of mouse models in this regard, as well as the dynamic nature of the gut microbiota during early life.

Supplier-origin gut microbiomes affect host body weight and select autism-related behaviors

“…The gastrointestinal tract of neonatal mice undergoes tremendous development during the first few weeks of life as the gut transitions from a highly aerobic to anaerobic environment and the host moves from maternal sources of nutrition to solid food 42,43 . Consistent with this idea, the neonatal GM at seven days of age is more similar to that of the oral microbiome of the dam than the fecal microbiome, including several aerobic bacterial taxa like Lactobacillus and Streptococcus dominating the neonatal gastrointestinal tract of CD-1 mice 44 . The pup fecal microbiome does, however, become more similar in composition to the maternal fecal microbiome around three weeks of age 44 , the same age at which we observed postnatal GM-dependent effects on body weight in BTBR mice.…”

“…Consistent with this idea, the neonatal GM at seven days of age is more similar to that of the oral microbiome of the dam than the fecal microbiome, including several aerobic bacterial taxa like Lactobacillus and Streptococcus dominating the neonatal gastrointestinal tract of CD-1 mice 44 . The pup fecal microbiome does, however, become more similar in composition to the maternal fecal microbiome around three weeks of age 44 , the same age at which we observed postnatal GM-dependent effects on body weight in BTBR mice. Collectively, our body weight data suggest that the mature (post-weaning) postnatal GM affects the body weight of the BTBR mouse.…”

Influence of consumption of the food additive carrageenan on the gut microbiota and the intestinal homeostasis of mice

“…1), characterized by the decrease of the taxonomic indexes, Shannon (microbial richness) and Simpson (microbial evenness), lower relative abundance of Bacillota and the increase of bacterial groups belonging to the Bacteroidota phylum. This swift change has been observed in this type of mice strain after weaning 38 and it has been associated with the adaptation to changes in solid diets 39 . Regarding the adverse effects of CGN observed in our study (Tables 1, 4 and S1), an extent body of evidence explain the damage as related to its degradation to low molecular weight (average 20 to 30 kDa) compounds [25,27,30], which have demonstrated mainly inflammatory effects and decreased barrier function and/or increased permeability 35 .…”

Normal human microbiota and dysbiosis: Implications for health and disease

“…Bacteria are the most numerous members of the human microbiota. It used to be assumed that their number was ten times higher (1 x 10 14 ) than that of our own tissue cells (1 x 10 13 ). According to new findings, however, this ratio is closer to 1:1 (3.8 x 10 13 to 3 x 10 13 ), as red blood cells have been included in the total number of cells in the human body (1).…”

“…Mass colonisation of the baby's skin and mucous membranes occurs during birth and continues in the first days after birth, primarily by the mother's microbiota, but also by other microorganisms from the environment. The composition of the microbiota is influenced by the mode of delivery, so that babies born vaginally are dominated by bacteria of the genus Lactobacillus, which are found in the microbiota of the maternal vaginal mucosa, while babies born by caesarean section are dominated by bacteria of the genus Staphylococcus, which represent the skin microbiota of the mother (14,15).…”