Fig. 3.

WGCNA showing the relationship of A. actinomycetemcomitans to its colonization partners in all of the inoculation groups. Supragingival plaque samples for WGCNA assessed at baseline (A), week 2 (B), and week 4 (C). At baseline, 3 of 6 of the most closely associated bacteria at the genus level were l-lactate producers: streptococci, Leptotrichia, and Abiotrophia. Analysis included total A. actinomycetemcomitans (both inoculated and indigenous). At week 2, after the final inoculation, Leptotrichia and Streptococcus spp. were prominent while at 4 wk the top co-occurrence l-lactate producers were Leptotrichia, Lactobaccillus, streptococci, and Abiotrophia. Color coding reflects the strength of the association/co-occurrence among the OTUs (red, strong; blue, intermediate; and yellow, weak). A. actinomycetemcomitans in subnetworks was subjected to coding (SI Appendix).