Figure 1.

Differential gene expression in the prefrontal cortex of conventional (CON) and germ-free (GF) raised mice highlights myelin pathways to be significantly different. (a) Schematic of experimental design. (b) Venn diagrams representing overlaps of differentially expressed genes between experimental groups. A total of 236 genes were found to be different between groups. P-values indicate significant overlaps as determined by Fisher's exact test. (c) Functional enrichment analysis revealed significantly enriched Gene Ontology terms in GF condition associated with myelin sheath formation and regulation of action potentials amongst upregulated genes. Enrichment of downregulated genes highlights immune and defence mechanisms. (d) Gene network representing interactions and upstream regulators of genes affected in GF mice compared with CON mice. Network highlights interactions of upstream transcription factors regulating myelin component genes. (e) Fractions of upregulated genes in GF that are known to regulate myelination or are myelin component genes. Each dot represents one of 94 genes upregulated in GF mice.