Impact of maternal fecal microbiota on the early development of neonatal gut microbial community

This is the authors' abstract. We don't add key points for this paper.

Background: Maternal gut microbiota may contribute to initial colonization of neonatal fecal microbiota, but how closely neonatal fecal communities in early life reflect maternal stool is unclear. Methods: We performed 16S rRNA gene sequencing on paired maternal fecal samples collected at delivery and neonatal fecal samples collected within the first week of life from 21 mothers and 25 neonates respectively. Alpha and beta diversity and pairwise taxonomic overlap were assessed. Results: Maternal stool and early neonatal fecal samples shared a similar phylum-level profile dominated by Firmicutes. However, neonatal fecal samples had significantly lower alpha diversity and clustered separately from maternal samples, indicating a distinct community structure. Within-pair overlap supported partial maternal contribution, but many taxa in early neonatal fecal samples were not detected in maternal stool, suggesting additional perinatal or postnatal sources. Conclusion: Early neonatal fecal samples represent a low-diversity pioneer community rather than a direct replica of the maternal gut microbiota, refining models of early-life microbial transmission.