Figure 3.

Ability of freeze-dried human fecal microbiota to colonize the digestive tract of germ-free mice. (a) Scheme of the experiment. (b) Follow-up of main bacterial groups per gram of feces after colonization with rehydrated FD microbiota [: #S4-FD (n = 4),: #S5-FD (n = 4), feces sampled per cage]. Results are expressed as the mean for each of the 2 FD samples. (c) Representative image of a colon section from germ-free mice colonized with rehydrated FD microbiota (D30). Scale bar, 50 µm; crypt depth in the colon of germ free and mice colonized with rehydrated FD microbiota (30 crypts per mouse were measured) and Ki67-positive cells expressed as the percentage of total cell number in colon crypts from germ-free mice colonized with rehydrated FD microbiota (60 crypts per mouse were analyzed). Statistical significance: *<0.05.