Microbiota succession throughout life from the cradle to the grave

Associations between age and the human microbiota are robust and reproducible. The microbial composition at several body sites can predict human chronological age relatively accurately. Although it is largely unknown why specific microorganisms are more abundant at certain ages, human microbiota res...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Nature reviews. Microbiology Vol. 20; no. 12; pp. 707 - 720
Main Authors: Martino, Cameron, Dilmore, Amanda Hazel, Burcham, Zachary M., Metcalf, Jessica L., Jeste, Dilip, Knight, Rob
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 01.12.2022
Nature Publishing Group
Subjects:
631/158/855
631/326/2565/855
Age
Antibiotics
Bacteria - genetics
Biomedical and Life Sciences
Birth
Death
Ecological succession
Fungi
Humans
Infant, Newborn
Infectious Diseases
Life Sciences
Longitudinal studies
Medical Microbiology
Microbiology
Microbiota
Microorganisms
Parasitology
Review Article
Robustness
Statistical analysis
Virology
ISSN:1740-1526, 1740-1534, 1740-1534
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:Associations between age and the human microbiota are robust and reproducible. The microbial composition at several body sites can predict human chronological age relatively accurately. Although it is largely unknown why specific microorganisms are more abundant at certain ages, human microbiota research has elucidated a series of microbial community transformations that occur between birth and death. In this Review, we explore microbial succession in the healthy human microbiota from the cradle to the grave. We discuss the stages from primary succession at birth, to disruptions by disease or antibiotic use, to microbial expansion at death. We address how these successions differ by body site and by domain (bacteria, fungi or viruses). We also review experimental tools that microbiota researchers use to conduct this work. Finally, we discuss future directions for studying the microbiota’s relationship with age, including designing consistent, well-powered, longitudinal studies, performing robust statistical analyses and improving characterization of non-bacterial microorganisms. The human microbiota can undergo dramatic changes during different phases of life (for example, during colonization after birth, after disturbances or in old age). In this Review, Knight and colleagues discuss the microbiota successions that occur from the cradle to the grave.
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ISSN:1740-1526
1740-1534
1740-1534
DOI:10.1038/s41579-022-00768-z