FIG 1.

Total microbiota composition differs between NPH, MEE, and EEC lavage samples. (A) Box plots of the α-diversity indices of the microbiota across the three niches. Medians and interquartile ranges are shown. The significance of differences was calculated using the Mann-Whitney U test with Benjamini-Hochberg (BH) correction for multiple comparisons. Observed species and the Shannon diversity index were significantly higher within NPH samples (green) compared to those for MEE (red) and EEC lavage (blue) samples. (B) Nonmetric multidimensional scaling (nMDS) plot based on Bray-Curtis (BC) dissimilarity between samples, with data points and ellipses colored by niche as follows: NPH (green), MEEs (red), and EEC lavage (blue) samples, with NPH samples being significantly different in composition compared to MEE and EEC lavage samples, as determined by permutational analysis of variance (PERMANOVA) analysis based on Bray-Curtis dissimilarity index ordination. Ellipses represent the standard deviation of all points within a niche. (C and D) The mean relative abundance of indicated phyla (C) and genera (D) in NPH, MEE, and EEC lavage samples.