Figure 8. Relative abundance in feces of major bacterial phylla.

Bacterial composition of feces collected during experimental week 8 (final week of treatment) and week 12 (fourth week of post-treatment follow-up) was determined by 16S rRNA sequencing (n = 9–10 mice per group). Treatment with either pNAPE-EcN (N) or pEcN (E) significantly decreased the abundance of Firmicutes compared with vehicle (V) and increased the abundance of Proteobacteria in excreted feces (week 8), but microbial composition reverted to that of the vehicle-treated animals by 4 weeks after ending bacterial administration (week 12).