Development of the intestinal microbiota in preterm infants during the first six postnatal weeks determined by 454 pyrosequencing of the 16S rRNA gene.

Development of the gut microbiota is greatly impacted in preterm infants, who have an immature gut and are exposed to factors like hospitalisation, caesarean section, antibiotics, and respiratory support. Exposure to these factors increases with decreasing gestational age and could lead to divergent microbiota development between infants of varying GA. We analysed faecal microbiota composition of ten preterm infants during the first six postnatal weeks through 16S-rRNA gene sequencing.