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Growing up with siblings has been linked to numerous health outcomes and is also an important determinant for the developing microbiota. Nonetheless, research into the role of having siblings on the developing microbiota has mainly been incidental.

Here, we investigate the specific effects of having siblings on the developing airway and gut microbiota using a total of 4497 hypopharyngeal and fecal samples taken from 686 children in the COPSAC₂₀₁₀ cohort, starting at 1 week of age and continuing until 6 years of age. Sibship was evaluated longitudinally and used for stratification. Microbiota composition was assessed using 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing of the variable V4 region.

We found siblings in the home to be one of the most important determinants of the developing microbiota in both the airway and gut, with significant differences in alpha diversity, beta diversity, and relative …