Figure 2.

The gut mycobiome through life and the influencing factors in early life. Infants receive mycobiota colonization in the gut at birth, and fungal community increased with age in infancy but decreased when they grow up to young adults. 10 days after birth, Rhodotorula mucilaginosa and Debaryomyces hansenii predominated in the gut of infants, while Candida parapsilosis, C. tropicalis, C. albicans, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, C. orthopsilosis, and Cryptococcus pseudolongus enriched in the anus of infants in the first month. In the adult stage, C. albicans, S. cerevisiae, C. tropicalis, C. glabrata, C. deforans, and Aspergillus glaucus occupy the gut. In later years, Penicillium, Candida, Aspergillus, and Saccharomyces were dominant in the gut of elders. The major factors contributing to neonatal gut fungal communities were mode of feeding and mode of delivery. Compared with neonates by cesarean section, a higher level of Candida and Pleosporales, decreased level of Malassezia were shown in the gut of infants born via vaginal delivery. Moreover, infants could directly acquire mycobiota from breast milk feeding by their mothers, which contains abundant R. mucilaginosa and C. parapsilosis.