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Cultivation-Independent Assessment of the Bacterial Diversity of Breast Milk Among Healthy Women

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Encyclopedia of Metagenomics

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Synonyms

The human milk microbiome

Definitions

Microbiota: the assemblage of microorganisms present in a defined environment.

Microbiome: the totality of microorganisms and their collective genetic material present in a specific environment.

Introduction

Human milk is a relevant factor in the initiation, development, and composition of the neonatal gut microbiota (Cho and Blaser 2012). This biological fluid represents a continuous source of bacteria to the infant gut (Fernández et al. 2013; Jeurink et al. 2012) and also provides prebiotic human milk oligosaccharides (Bode 2012). It has been suggested that exposure of the breast-fed infant to such a wealth of bacterial phylotypes may exert beneficial effects against diarrheal and respiratory diseases and may reduce the risk of developing other conditions, such as diabetes or obesity (Hunt et al. 2011).

The first descriptions of the bacterial diversity of breast milk in healthy women were based on the use of culture media and showed the...

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Nutrition, Food Science and Food Technology, Complutense University of Madrid, Madrid, Spain

    Dr. Esther Jiménez & Dr. Juan M. Rodríguez

Authors
  1. Dr. Esther Jiménez
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  2. Dr. Juan M. Rodríguez
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Esther Jiménez .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. J. Craig Venter Institute (JCVI), Rockville, Maryland, USA

    Karen E. Nelson

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Jiménez, E., Rodríguez, J.M. (2013). Cultivation-Independent Assessment of the Bacterial Diversity of Breast Milk Among Healthy Women. In: Nelson, K. (eds) Encyclopedia of Metagenomics. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-6418-1_566-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-6418-1_566-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4614-6418-1

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