Maternal inheritence of the koala gut microbiome

The acquisition and maturation of the gastrointestinal microbiome is a crucial aspect of mammalian development, particularly for specialist herbivores such as the koala. Joey koalas are thought to be inoculated with microorganisms by feeding on specialised maternal faeces (pap). This study confirms the importance of pap feeding by joey koalas and shows that it results in strong maternal inheritance of the microbiome.