Go to The Journal of Clinical Investigation
  • About
  • Editors
  • Consulting Editors
  • For authors
  • Publication ethics
  • Transfers
  • Advertising
  • Job board
  • Contact
  • Current issue
  • Past issues
  • By specialty
    • COVID-19
    • Cardiology
    • Immunology
    • Metabolism
    • Nephrology
    • Oncology
    • Pulmonology
    • All ...
  • Videos
  • Collections
    • Resource and Technical Advances
    • Clinical Medicine
    • Reviews
    • Editorials
    • Perspectives
    • Top read articles
  • JCI This Month
    • Current issue
    • Past issues

  • Current issue
  • Past issues
  • Specialties
  • In-Press Preview
  • Concise Communication
  • Editorials
  • Viewpoint
  • Top read articles
  • About
  • Editors
  • Consulting Editors
  • For authors
  • Publication ethics
  • Transfers
  • Advertising
  • Job board
  • Contact
Fetal exposure to the maternal microbiota in humans and mice
Noelle Younge, … , Debra Brandon, Patrick C. Seed
Noelle Younge, … , Debra Brandon, Patrick C. Seed
Published September 3, 2019
Citation Information: JCI Insight. 2019;4(19):e127806. https://doi.org/10.1172/jci.insight.127806.
View: Text | PDF
Research Article Development Microbiology

Fetal exposure to the maternal microbiota in humans and mice

  • Text
  • PDF
Abstract

Previous studies have demonstrated the presence of microbial DNA in the fetal environment. However, it remains unclear whether this DNA represents viable bacteria and how it relates to the maternal microbiota across body sites. We studied the microbiota of human and mouse dyads to understand these relationships, localize bacteria in the fetus, and demonstrate bacterial viability. In human preterm and full-term mother-infant dyads at the time of cesarean delivery, the oral cavity and meconium of newborn infants born as early as 24 weeks of gestation contained a microbiota that was predicted to originate from in utero sources, including the placenta. Using operative deliveries of pregnant mice under highly controlled, sterile conditions in the laboratory, composition, visualization, and viability of bacteria in the in utero compartment and fetal intestine were demonstrated by 16S rRNA gene sequencing, fluorescence in situ hybridization, and bacterial culture. The composition and predicted source of the fetal gut microbiota shifted between mid- and late gestation. Cultivatable bacteria in the fetal intestine were found during mid-gestation but not late gestation. Our results demonstrate a dynamic, viable mammalian fetal microbiota during in utero development.

Authors

Noelle Younge, Jessica R. McCann, Julie Ballard, Catherine Plunkett, Suhail Akhtar, Félix Araújo-Pérez, Amy Murtha, Debra Brandon, Patrick C. Seed

×

Figure 1

Sequencing-based determination of the microbiota of human preterm and full-term mother-infant dyads delivered by cesarean delivery.

Options: View larger image (or click on image) Download as PowerPoint
Sequencing-based determination of the microbiota of human preterm and fu...
(A) Principal coordinates analysis of samples based on Bray-Curtis distances. (B) Pairwise comparisons of Bray-Curtis distances between sample sites by adonis PERMANOVA with Benjamini-Hochberg adjustment. The R2 value and P value (in parentheses; highlighted if P < 0.05) are noted for each comparison. (C) Heatmap of the relative proportion of the top bacterial taxa (lowest assigned taxonomy) represented within each sample site in premature and full-term mother-infant pairs.

Copyright © 2022 American Society for Clinical Investigation
ISSN 2379-3708

Sign up for email alerts