Early-life development of the gut virome and plasmidome: A longitudinal study in cesarean-born infants
Asier Fernández-Pato, Trishla Sinha, Sanzhima Garmaeva, Anastasia Gulyaeva, Nataliia Kuzub, Simon Roux, Jingyuan Fu, Alexander Kurilshikov, Alexandra Zhernakova
Abstract
Mobile genetic elements (MGE) are critical yet understudied determinants of gut microbiome composition. In this secondary analysis of a randomized controlled trial (NCT06030713), we characterized the gut virome and plasmidome in 195 samples from 28 mother-infant dyads delivered by cesarean section. Infant mobilome increases in richness over the first 6 postnatal weeks, demonstrating high individual-specificity and temporal stability, establishing a personal persistent mobilome. Formula-fed infants exhibit greater mobilome richness than breastfed infants, with plasmid composition being influenced by antibiotic exposure and birth weight. Plasmids constitute a reservoir of antibiotic resistance genes (ARG), with around 5% of infant gut plasmid taxonomic units carrying ARG. Notably, ARG profiles do not differ with antibiotic exposure at birth. Mother-infant sharing of viral and plasmid strains primarily occurs after 6 months of age. Overall, our integrative analysis offers insights into the dynamics, modulation, and origin of MGE in the developing gut microbiome.