TY - JOUR
T1 - Gut bacteria are rarely shared by co-hospitalized premature infants, regardless of necrotizing enterocolitis development
AU - Raveh-Sadka, Tali
AU - Thomas, Brian C.
AU - Singh, Andrea
AU - Firek, Brian
AU - Brooks, Brandon
AU - Castelle, Cindy J.
AU - Sharon, Itai
AU - Baker, Robyn
AU - Good, Misty
AU - Morowitz, Michael J.
AU - Banfield, Jillian F.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© Copyright Raveh-Sadka et al.
PY - 2015/3/3
Y1 - 2015/3/3
N2 - Premature infants are highly vulnerable to aberrant gastrointestinal tract colonization, a process that may lead to diseases like necrotizing enterocolitis. Thus, spread of potential pathogens among hospitalized infants is of great concern. Here, we reconstructed hundreds of high-quality genomes of microorganisms that colonized co-hospitalized premature infants, assessed their metabolic potential, and tracked them over time to evaluate bacterial strain dispersal among infants. We compared microbial communities in infants who did and did not develop necrotizing enterocolitis. Surprisingly, while potentially pathogenic bacteria of the same species colonized many infants, our genome-resolved analysis revealed that strains colonizing each baby were typically distinct. In particular, no strain was common to all infants who developed necrotizing enterocolitis. The paucity of shared gut colonizers suggests the existence of significant barriers to the spread of bacteria among infants. Importantly, we demonstrate that strain-resolved comprehensive community analysis can be accomplished on potentially medically relevant time scales.
AB - Premature infants are highly vulnerable to aberrant gastrointestinal tract colonization, a process that may lead to diseases like necrotizing enterocolitis. Thus, spread of potential pathogens among hospitalized infants is of great concern. Here, we reconstructed hundreds of high-quality genomes of microorganisms that colonized co-hospitalized premature infants, assessed their metabolic potential, and tracked them over time to evaluate bacterial strain dispersal among infants. We compared microbial communities in infants who did and did not develop necrotizing enterocolitis. Surprisingly, while potentially pathogenic bacteria of the same species colonized many infants, our genome-resolved analysis revealed that strains colonizing each baby were typically distinct. In particular, no strain was common to all infants who developed necrotizing enterocolitis. The paucity of shared gut colonizers suggests the existence of significant barriers to the spread of bacteria among infants. Importantly, we demonstrate that strain-resolved comprehensive community analysis can be accomplished on potentially medically relevant time scales.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85006276920&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.7554/eLife.05477
DO - 10.7554/eLife.05477
M3 - Article
C2 - 25735037
AN - SCOPUS:85006276920
VL - 2015
JO - eLife
JF - eLife
SN - 2050-084X
IS - 4
M1 - e05477
ER -