FIGURE 11.

Examples of donor characteristic taxa that associate with plasma TMAO levels and atherosclerosis in recipients. The graphs in the left column plot plasma TMAO concentrations on the x-axes, whereas graphs in the right column plot aortic atherosclerotic lesion extent on the x-axes of the indicated recipient groups. All y-axes contain the relative abundance of the indicated donor characteristic taxa as identified from the LEfSe analysis (Fig. 7). Spearman correlation coefficients and false discovery rate adjusted p values are shown. A, taxa Erysipelotrichaceae, characteristic (more abundant) of C57BL/6J donor mice, is positively correlated with TMAO across all four recipient groups and with atherosclerosis extent for recipients of atherosclerosis-prone C57BL/6J cecal microbes. B, taxa RF39, also characteristic of C57BL/6J donors, is positively correlated with both atherosclerosis extent (all recipients) and TMAO levels among C57BL/6J recipient groups. C, proportions of the taxa Dorea, characteristic of NZW/LacJ donors, demonstrates negative associations with both plasma TMAO levels and atherosclerosis extent across all recipient groups. Data points represent mean ± S.E.