Downloaded from genome.cshlp.org on October 5, 2021 - Published by Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press Identical bacterial populations colonize premature infant gut, skin, and oral microbiomes and exhibit different in situ growth rates Matthew R. Olm1, Christopher T. Brown1, Brandon Brooks1, Brian Firek2, Robyn Baker3, David Burstein4, Karina Soenjoyo1, Brian C. Thomas4, Michael Morowitz2 and Jillian F. Banfield4,5,6* 1Department of Plant and Microbial Biology, University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA. 2Department of Surgery, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA, USA. 3Division of Newborn Medicine, Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh and Magee-Womens Hospital of UPMC, Pittsburgh, United States 4Department of Earth and Planetary Science, University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA. 5Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management, University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA. 6Earth Sciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA, USA. *Corresponding author Running title Metagenomics of infant skin, mouth, and gut Keywords Microbiome, metagenomics, growth rates, premature infants, strains Corresponding author contact info Jillian Banfield Department of Environmental Science, Policy, & Management UC Berkeley 130 Mulford Hall #3114 Berkeley, CA 94720
[email protected] (510) 643-2155 1 Downloaded from genome.cshlp.org on October 5, 2021 - Published by Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press Abstract The initial microbiome impacts the health and future development of premature infants. Methodological limitations have led to gaps in our understanding of the habitat range and subpopulation complexity of founding strains, as well as how different body sites support microbial growth. Here, we used metagenomics to reconstruct genomes of strains that colonized the skin, mouth and gut of two hospitalized premature infants during the first month of life.