Newborn baby digestive tract
Before birth, the tract of the fetus is sterile, but within hours of birth, the baby acquires a complex collection of microorganisms which populate the mouth—then eventually the full length of the digestive tract will be colonized. The development of specific microorganisms is influenced by the exposure to certain factors such as maternal microbiota, environmental contact, mode of delivery and the infant’s diet.
The Niche: Newborn Baby Digestive Tract
The newborn baby digestive tract includes the esophagus, stomach, small intestine, large intestine, and rectum. Although the mouth is not considered part of the digestive tract, it plays a critical role in food breakdown and provides access for microbes to enter and colonize the infant’s digestive tract. Beyond the mouth, the esophagus serves as a passage for the microbes to progress further down the digestive tract, pass the stomach and into the intestines where the microbes can establish and initiate colonization. Of all the parts of the digestive tract, the intestines are where the majority of the microflora resides. Finally, the rectum serves as an exit for microbes to leave the digestive tract.
Physical Conditions
The pH of an infant’s stomach ranges approximately from 2 to 5. Initially the pH of the stomach is less acidic, but the presence of microbes, such as Streptococcus and Lactobacillus, and their metabolic activities create a more acidic environment. However, further down the digestive tract the acidity of the environment decreases.
The infant’s stomach is a well-oxygenated area because air swallowed with food arrives in the stomach within moments of ingestion. The facultative anaerobes established in the stomach utilize the available oxygen, resulting in an oxygen-reduced environment for the obligate anaerobic microbes in the intestines.
Factors Affecting the Microflora
Do any of the physical conditions change? Are there chemicals, other organisms, nutrients, etc. that might change the community of your niche.
Who lives there?
Which microbes are present?
You may refer to organisms by genus or by genus and species, depending upon how detailed the your information might be. If there is already a microbewiki page describing that organism, make a link to it.
Are there any other non-microbes present?
Plants? Animals? Fungi? etc.
Do the microbes that are present interact with each other?
Describe any negative (competition) or positive (symbiosis) behavior
Do the microbes change their environment?
Do they alter pH, attach to surfaces, secrete anything, etc. etc.
Do the microbes carry out any metabolism that affects their environment?
Do they ferment sugars to produce acid, break down large molecules, fix nitrogen, etc. etc.
Current Research
Enter summaries of the most recent research. You may find it more appropriate to include this as a subsection under several of your other sections rather than separately here at the end. You should include at least FOUR topics of research and summarize each in terms of the question being asked, the results so far, and the topics for future study. (more will be expected from larger groups than from smaller groups)
References
Edited by [Coco Chin , Jeremy Dayrit , Hanaah Fannin , Angela Ho , Chon Ieng , Min-jeong Suh ], students of Rachel Larsen
