Fig. 8

Acquisition of a major butyrate and acetate synthetic pathway in the preterm infant gut microbiome was markedly impaired in antibiotic-exposed infants. The relative abundance of metabolic pathway genes was compared from week 1 to week 3 in antibiotic-exposed and antibiotic-naïve infants using GLMM. The acetyl-CoA to butyrate and acetate synthesis pathway, a contributor to butyrate and acetate synthesis in meconium stools from infants, was significantly increased in abundance from week 1 to week 3 in antibiotic-naïve infants. Acquisition of the same pathway was markedly blunted in antibiotic-exposed infants