Bonham Lab
16SWGScohort

Infant microbiome assembly

We study how the gut microbiome assembles in the first years of life and how early colonization patterns shape brain development and other health outcomes

The infant gut microbiome undergoes dramatic changes during the first two years of life, transitioning a low-diversity community dominated by Bifidobacterium to a more diverse adult-like consortium. We use longitudinal 16S and metagenomic sequencing in birth cohorts to track this assembly process and identify microbial features that predict host phenotypes.

References

  1. Bonham K. S., Margolis E. T., Fahur Bottino G., Sobrino A. C., Patel F., McCann S., Zieff M. R., Miles M., Herr D., Davel L., others undefined.

    Codevelopment of Gut Microbial Metabolism and Visual Neural Circuitry over Human Infancy

    mBio, e00835-25. doi:10.1128/mbio.00835-25

  2. Bonham K. S., Fahur Bottino G., McCann S. H., Beauchemin J., Weisse E., Barry F., Cano Lorente R., Consortium \. R., Huttenhower C., Bruchhage M., others undefined.

    Gut-Resident Microorganisms and Their Genes Are Associated with Cognition and Neuroanatomy in Children

    Science advances 9, eadi0497. doi:10.1126/sciadv.adi0497