Figure 4.

Stressor exposure significantly reduces α diversity in the mucosa-associated microbiota. (A) The Shannon Diversity index (SDI) was measured for each sample and averaged by group. RST Stressor was significantly lower than FWD Control mice (P < 0.05), but was not significantly different than HCC Control SDI values. (B) Richness (by Chao1 measurement) and (C) evenness (by equitability) were then calculated using QIIME and averaged by group. RST Stressor did not affect overall richness, but evenness was reduced in RST Stressor-exposed mice when compared to FWD Control mice (P< 0.05). Data are mean ± SD for n = 5 for all groups. For α diversity, groups were compared using parametric T-tests on QIIME with a modified Bonferroni correction for multiple comparisons.