Breastfeeding and maternal microbial reservoirs are associated with infant gut phageome development during the first year of life
5 affiliations
- 1Instituto de Biomedicina de Valencia (IBV)-CSIC and CIBER de Enfermedades Raras (CIBERER)-ISCIII, Valencia, Spain
- 2Institute of Agrochemistry and Food Technology - National Research Council (IATA-CSIC), Valencia, Spain
- 3School of Life Sciences, University of Warwick, Coventry, UK
- 4Instituto de Biomedicina de Valencia (IBV)-CSIC and CIBER de Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP)-ISCIII, Valencia, Spain
- 5Department of Genetics and Genome Biology, University of Leicester, University Road, Leicester, UK
Abstract
The early-life assembly of the gut microbiome is a critical determinant of long-term health, yet the role of bacteriophages in this process remains poorly understood. Here we longitudinally profile the gut phageome of 34 mother-infant dyads during the first year of life with metagenomics and a phage-centered computational workflow. Phage diversity increases with age, paralleling bacterial diversification but following distinct ecological trajectories. Shared viral populations across maternal and infant samples are consistent with potential maternal contribution, although not indicative of direct transmission. Feeding-related variables are consistently associated with phageome composition at specific developmental stages. No single factor fully explains phageome variation, supporting a multifactorial model involving maternal, environmental, and dietary inputs. Together, these findings provide a framework for understanding early-life phage ecology, positioning phages as active participants in early microbiome assembly and supporting the inclusion of viral components in microbiome-based strategies aimed at promoting healthy ecosystem development in infancy.
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BibTeX
@article{cabelloyeves2026breastfeeding,
title = {{Breastfeeding and maternal microbial reservoirs are associated with infant gut phageome development during the first year of life}},
author = {Elena Cabello-Yeves and Anna Samarra and Kimberley Summers and Iñaki Comas and Elizabeth Wellington and Andrew Millard and María Carmen Collado and Alberto Marina},
journal = {Cell Reports Medicine},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1016/j.xcrm.2026.103107},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.xcrm.2026.103107},
note = {CC BY-NC-ND 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Breastfeeding and maternal microbial reservoirs are associated with infant gut phageome development during the first year of life
AU - Elena Cabello-Yeves
AU - Anna Samarra
AU - Kimberley Summers
AU - Iñaki Comas
AU - Elizabeth Wellington
AU - Andrew Millard
AU - María Carmen Collado
AU - Alberto Marina
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/09
JO - Cell Reports Medicine
DO - 10.1016/j.xcrm.2026.103107
UR - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.xcrm.2026.103107
AB - The early-life assembly of the gut microbiome is a critical determinant of long-term health, yet the role of bacteriophages in this process remains poorly understood. Here we longitudinally profile the gut phageome of 34 mother-infant dyads during the first year of life with metagenomics and a phage-centered computational workflow. Phage diversity increases with age, paralleling bacterial diversification but following distinct ecological trajectories. Shared viral populations across maternal and infant samples are consistent with potential maternal contribution, although not indicative of direct transmission. Feeding-related variables are consistently associated with phageome composition at specific developmental stages. No single factor fully explains phageome variation, supporting a multifactorial model involving maternal, environmental, and dietary inputs. Together, these findings provide a framework for understanding early-life phage ecology, positioning phages as active participants in early microbiome assembly and supporting the inclusion of viral components in microbiome-based strategies aimed at promoting healthy ecosystem development in infancy.
SN - 2666-3791
ER -