English (United Kingdom)

https://curated-unify.zendy.io/wp-json/zendy-region/v1/featured_content/oa?rat=en

https://curated-unify.zendy.io/wp-json/zendy-region/v1/highlighted_journal/

Global: Zendy Plus annual

Presents the access of premium content as premium feature

Premium Content

Presents the keyphrase highlighting as premium feature

Keyphrase Highlighting

Presents the summarisation as premium feature

Summarisation

Insights

Presents the pdf analysis as premium feature

PDF Analysis

Presents the zaia usage as premium feature

ZAIA

Global: Zendy Tools annual

Global: Zendy Free Plan

Global: Zendy Tools monthly

Global: Zendy Plus monthly

Despite the fact that infant gut colonization patterns have been extensively studied, we have limited knowledge about the underlying ecological processes. This particularly relates to the ecological choice of nutrient utilization strategies. The aim of the current study was therefore to compare empirically determined nutrient utilization strategies with that expected from a combinatorial game theory model. Observational analyses for 100 mother–child pairs suggested mother–child transmission of specialists with the potential to use few nutrients. Generalists, on the other hand, with the potential to use many nutrients, peaked at three months of age for the children. The level of generalists was gradually replaced with specialists up to 12 months of age. Game theory simulation revealed a competitive advantage of generalists in an expanding population, while more specialized bacteria were favoured with the maturation of the population. This suggests that the observed increase in generalists in the three-month-old children could be due to an immature, expanding gut microbiota population while the increase of specialists at 12 months could be due to population maturation. The simulated and empirical data also correspond with respect to an increased α diversity and a decreased β diversity with the number of simulations and age, respectively. Taken together, game theory simulation of nutrient utilization strategies can therefore provide novel insight into the maturation of the human gut microbiota during infancy.

A game theory model for gut bacterial nutrient utilization strategies during human infancy