The core phageome and its interrelationship with preterm human milk lipids
Wen C. Yew,
Gregory R. Young,
Andrew Nelson,
William Cheung,
Christopher J. Stewart,
Simon H. Bridge,
Claire Granger,
Janet E. Berrington,
Nicholas D. Embleton,
Darren L. Smith
Affiliations
Wen C. Yew
Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 8ST, UK
Gregory R. Young
Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 8ST, UK; Hub for Biotechnology in the Built Environment, Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 8ST, UK
Andrew Nelson
Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 8ST, UK
William Cheung
Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 8ST, UK
Christopher J. Stewart
Translational and Clinical Research Institute, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 7RU, UK
Simon H. Bridge
Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 8ST, UK; Translational and Clinical Research Institute, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 7RU, UK
Claire Granger
Translational and Clinical Research Institute, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 7RU, UK; Neonatal Medicine, Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals National Health Service Foundation Trust, Newcastle upon Tyne NE7 7DN, UK
Janet E. Berrington
Translational and Clinical Research Institute, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 7RU, UK; Neonatal Medicine, Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals National Health Service Foundation Trust, Newcastle upon Tyne NE7 7DN, UK
Nicholas D. Embleton
Translational and Clinical Research Institute, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 7RU, UK; Population Health Sciences Institute, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 7RU, UK
Darren L. Smith
Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 8ST, UK; Hub for Biotechnology in the Built Environment, Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 8ST, UK; Corresponding author
Summary: Phages and lipids in human milk (HM) may benefit preterm infant health by preventing gastrointestinal pathobiont overgrowth and microbiome modulation. Lipid association may promote vertical transmission of phages to the infant. Despite this, interrelationships between lipids and phages are poorly characterized in preterm HM. Shotgun metagenomics and untargeted lipidomics of phage and lipid profiles from 99 preterm HM samples reveals that phages are abundant and prevalent from the first week and throughout the first 100 days of lactation. Phage-host richness of preterm HM increases longitudinally. Core phage communities characterized by Staphylococcus- and Propionibacterium-infecting phages are significantly correlated with long-chain fatty acid abundances over lactational age. We report here a phage-lipid interaction in preterm HM, highlighting the potential importance of phage carriage in preterm HM. These results reveal possible strategies for phage carriage in HM and their importance in early-life microbiota development.
