title: Bacterial microbiome of breast milk and child saliva from low-income Mexican-American women and children.
abstract: The childhood salivary microbiome, which plays an important role in healthy development, may be influenced by breast milk consumption. The composition of the milk microbiome and the role it plays in the establishment of the infant microbiome are not well understood.
  
  
  
  Here, we sequenced the bacterial 16S rRNA gene to characterize microbial communities in breast milk and 5-year-old child saliva from 10 low-income, Mexican-American mother-child pairs with a high prevalence of obesity.
  
  
  
  Members of the genus Streptococcus dominated both milk and salivary microbial communities in most subjects. Staphylococcus was observed predominately in milk samples while Prevotella was more prevalent in child saliva. No statistically significant relationships were observed between maternal and child microbiomes or between child microbiome and BMI. However, prepregnancy BMI was correlated with both lower Streptococcus abundance (r = -0.67) and higher microbial diversity (r = 0.77) in breast milk (P < 0.05 for both). Diversity estimates were notably similar to data from other low-income cohorts or children.
  
  
  
  These findings contribute to the currently limited state of knowledge regarding the breast milk and salivary microbiomes in mother-child pairs and may inform future studies seeking to elucidate the relationship between early-life microbial exposures and pediatric health.
authors.affiliation: School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, California.
authors.forename: Veronica
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Davé
authors.affiliation: School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, California.
authors.forename: Kelly
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Street
authors.affiliation: School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, California.
authors.forename: Stephen
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Francis
authors.affiliation: School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, California.|Center for Environmental Research & Children's Health (CERCH), School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, California.
authors.forename: Asa
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bradman
authors.affiliation: School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, California.
authors.forename: Lee
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Riley
authors.affiliation: School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, California.|Center for Environmental Research & Children's Health (CERCH), School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, California.
authors.forename: Brenda
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Eskenazi
authors.affiliation: School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, California.|Center for Environmental Research & Children's Health (CERCH), School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, California.
authors.forename: Nina
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Holland
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001424:Bacterial Infections / Q000453:epidemiology; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D005516:Food Microbiology; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D017058:Mexican Americans; D064307:Microbiota; D008895:Milk, Human / Q000382:microbiology*; D009765:Obesity / Q000150:complications / Q000208:ethnology*; D063766:Pediatric Obesity / Q000150:complications / Q000517:prevention & control; D010865:Pilot Projects; D011203:Poverty; D015995:Prevalence; D018720:Prevotella / Q000302:isolation & purification; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S / Q000032:analysis; D012463:Saliva / Q000382:microbiology*; D012737:Sex Factors; D013291:Streptococcus / Q000302:isolation & purification; D014481:United States; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S