FIG 2.

Determination of discriminant operational taxonomic units (OTUs) in ileal and cecal digesta for total feed intake (TFI), total body weight gain (TBWG), and residual feed intake (RFI) in low- and high-RFI chickens fed either ad libitum or restrictively. Covariations between the relative abundances of bacterial OTUs (relative abundances > 0.01) and TFI, TBWG, and RFI levels were assessed using sparse-partial-least-squares regression. The network is displayed graphically as nodes (OTUs and performance traits) and edges (biological relationship between nodes), with the edge color intensity indicating the level of the association as follows: red, positive; green, negative. Only the strongest pairwise associations were projected. Relevance networks for (A) relationships between OTUs in ileal digesta, TFI, and TBWG (r > 0.25) and (B) relationships between OTUs in cecal digesta, RFI, TFI, and TBWG (r > 0.40) are shown.