Sanzhima Garmaeva

Abstract Environmental contamination complicates the study of low-biomass microbial communities like the human gut virome. In 1,321 early-life gut viromes and 55 negative controls (NCs) from four datasets, we identified viral contaminants and their prevalence across studies.

Abstract As mobile genetic elements (MGE) are critical yet understudied determinants of gut microbiome composition, we characterized the gut virome and plasmidome in 195 samples from 28 mother-infant dyads delivered by caesarean section. Infant mobilome increased in richness over the first 6 postnatal weeks, demonstrating high individual-specificity and temporal stability, establishing a personal persistent mobilome.

Abstract Early development of the gut ecosystem is crucial for lifelong health. While infant gut bacterial communities have been studied extensively, the infant gut virome remains under-explored. To study the development of the infant gut virome over time and the factors that shape it, we longitudinally assess the composition of gut viruses and their bacterial hosts in 30 women during and after pregnancy and in their 32 infants during their first year of life.