2'-Fucosyllactose helps butyrate producers outgrow competitors in infant gut microbiota simulations.

A reduced capacity for butyrate production by the early infant gut microbiota is associated with negative health effects, such as inflammation and the development of allergies. Here, we develop new hypotheses on the effect of the prebiotic galacto-oligosaccharides (GOS) or 2'-fucosyllactose (2'-FL) on butyrate production by the infant gut microbiota using a multiscale, spatiotemporal mathematical model of the infant gut. The model simulates a community of cross-feeding gut bacteria in metabolic detail.

A Multiscale Spatiotemporal Model Including a Switch from Aerobic to Anaerobic Metabolism Reproduces Succession in the Early Infant Gut Microbiota.

The human intestinal microbiota starts to form immediately after birth and is important for the health of the host. During the first days, facultatively anaerobic bacterial species generally dominate, such as . These are succeeded by strictly anaerobic species, particularly species.