The human intestine is home to trillions of bacteria. Investigation of the colonization of the infant gut by these microorganisms is a prelude to understanding how they may act in both health and disease.
At birth, babies emerge from a sterile environment into one that is laden with microbes. The infant's intestine then rapidly becomes home to one of the densest populations of bacteria on Earth. Writing in PLoS Biology, Palmer et al.1 report the most comprehensive analysis to date of the bacteria that first take up residence in the human intestine.
Interest in this ecosystem stems in part from the discovery of numerous benefits that arise from our intestinal microbiota: these bacteria help in extracting nutrients from food, and are instrumental in the development of the gut2, 3 and the immune system4 after birth. However, gut microbes have also been linked to several disease states, including inflammatory bowel diseases and colon cancer, and less directly to maladies such as asthma, rheumatoid arthritis, atopic dermatitis and even autism5, 6. An accurate and comprehensive analysis of the microbes present in the developing microbiota of the infant is an essential first step towards understanding which of them may affect the health of the host.
Palmer et al.1 analysed the microbial composition of the intestinal ecosystem of 14 infants by sampling their faeces. Sampling began with the first stool after birth, and was followed by 25 further samples from each infant over their first year of life. The authors' method of quantifying the bacterial composition avoided the need to culture the bacteria. It involved use of a comprehensive DNA microarray that differentiated and quantified the distinct taxonomic groups present in the samples.
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