Composition of gut microbiota in infants in China and global comparison.
Symbiotic gut microbiota is essential for human health, and its compositional changes have been associated with various complex disorders. However, systematic investigation of the acquisition and development of gut microbial communities during early infancy are relatively rare, particularly for infants from non-Western countries. In this study, we characterize the colonization and development of infant microbiota in healthy Chinese infants and compare the pattern with those from other countries. The fecal microbiota of 2-month-old infants was considerably more diverse than that of neonates, as indicated by higher relative abundances of Veillonella, Clostridium, Bacteroides, Lactobacillus, Collinsella and Prevotella, and reduction of Escherichia and Enterococcus. The fecal microbiota of vaginally delivered infants (both neonates and 2-month-old) had significant enrichment of Bacteroides, Parabacteroides and Megamonas, whereas cesarean delivered infants had enrichment of Prevotella, Streptococcus and Trabulsiella. By global comparison, we identify three different enterotypes, referred as "P-type", "A-type "and "F-type" which were highly abundant in Proteobacteria, Actinobacteria and Firmicutes, respectively. The three enterotypes' compositons vary geographically. All Chinese infants in our study belong to the P-type. These findings may provide novel insights into our understanding of the establishment of infant fecal bacterial communities.
Division of Birth Cohort Study, Guangzhou Women and Children's Medical Center, Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou 510623, People's Republic of China.
Ya-Shu
YS
Kuang
Division of Birth Cohort Study, Guangzhou Women and Children's Medical Center, Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou 510623, People's Republic of China.
Sheng-Hui
SH
Li
Division of Birth Cohort Study, Guangzhou Women and Children's Medical Center, Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou 510623, People's Republic of China.
Yong
Y
Guo
Division of Birth Cohort Study, Guangzhou Women and Children's Medical Center, Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou 510623, People's Republic of China.
Jin-Hua
JH
Lu
Division of Birth Cohort Study, Guangzhou Women and Children's Medical Center, Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou 510623, People's Republic of China.
Jian-Rong
JR
He
Department of Obstetrics, Guangzhou Women and Children's Medical Center, Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou 510623, People's Republic of China.
Bei-Jun
BJ
Luo
Department of Obstetrics, Guangzhou Women and Children's Medical Center, Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou 510623, People's Republic of China.
Feng-Ju
FJ
Jiang
Center of Bioinformatics and Genomics, Department of Biostatistics and Bioinformatics, Tulane School of Public Health and Tropic Medicine, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA.
Hui
H
Shen
Department of Basic Medical Science, School of Medicine, University of Missouri - Kansas City, Kansas City, Missouri, USA.
Christopher J
CJ
Papasian
School of Public Health, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, Hong Kong, China.
Herbert
H
Pang
Division of Birth Cohort Study, Guangzhou Women and Children's Medical Center, Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou 510623, People's Republic of China.|Department of Neonatal Surgery, Guangzhou Women and Children's Medical Center, Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou 510623, China.
Hui-Min
HM
Xia
Center of Bioinformatics and Genomics, Department of Biostatistics and Bioinformatics, Tulane School of Public Health and Tropic Medicine, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA.
Hong-Wen
HW
Deng
Division of Birth Cohort Study, Guangzhou Women and Children's Medical Center, Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou 510623, People's Republic of China.|Department of Woman and Child Health, Guangzhou Women and Children's Medical Center, Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou 510623, China.
Xiu
X
Qiu
D044466:Asian People; D001419:Bacteria / Q000145:classification* / Q000254:growth & development*; D005260:Female; D000069196:Gastrointestinal Microbiome / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male