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Various species of the intestinal microbiota have been associated with the development of colorectal cancer(1,2), but it has not been demonstrated that bacteria have a direct role in the occurrence of oncogenic mutations. Escherichia coli can carry the pathogenicity island pks, which encodes a set of enzymes that synthesize colibactin(3). This compound is believed to alkylate DNA on adenine residues(4,5) and induces double-strand breaks in cultured cells(3). Here we expose human intestinal organoids to genotoxic pks(+)E. coli by repeated luminal injection over five months. Whole-genome sequencing of clonal organoids before and after this exposure revealed a distinct mutational signature that was absent from organoids injected with isogenic pks-mutant bacteria. The same mutational signature was detected in a subset of 5,876 human cancer genomes from two independent cohorts, predominantly in colorectal cancer. Our study describes a distinct mutational signature in colorectal cancer and implies that the underlying mutational process results directly from past exposure to bacteria carrying the colibactin-producing pks pathogenicity island.

Organoids derived from human intestinal cells that are co-cultured with bacteria carrying the genotoxic pks(+) island develop a distinct mutational signature associated with colorectal cancer.

Although maternal antibodies protect newborn babies from infection(1,2), little is known about how protective antibodies are induced without prior pathogen exposure. Here we show that neonatal mice that lack the capacity to produce IgG are protected from infection with the enteric pathogen enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli by maternal natural IgG antibodies against the maternal microbiota when antibodies are delivered either across the placenta or through breast milk. By challenging pups that were fostered by either maternal antibody-sufficient or antibody-deficient dams, we found that IgG derived from breast milk was crucial for protection against mucosal disease induced by enterotoxigenic E. coli. IgG also provides protection against systemic infection by E. coli. Pups used the neonatal Fc receptor to transfer IgG from milk into serum. The maternal commensal microbiota can induce antibodies that recognize antigens expressed by enterotoxigenic E. coli and other Enterobacteriaceae species. Induction of maternal antibodies against a commensal Pantoea species confers protection against enterotoxigenic E. coli in pups. This role of the microbiota in eliciting protective antibodies to a specific neonatal pathogen represents an important host defence mechanism against infection in neonates.

Neonatal mice are protected against infection with the enteric pathogen enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli by maternally derived natural antibodies as well as by maternal commensal microbiota that induce antibodies that recognize antigens expressed by Enterobacteriaceae.