Figure 3.

Principal coordinates analysis showing microbial compositional difference among the cecal samples of poults at 2 d (A) and 7 d (B) after inoculation as determined by the beta diversity using the Bray-Curtis dissimilarity index. From the day of hatch, the poults were allocated into N, P, and S groups for 14 d. Abbreviations: N, Negative control (poults without SH challenge or PF supplementation); S, SH control (poults challenged with SH on d 7 and without PF supplementation); P, test group (poults supplemented with PF for 14 d and challenged with SH on d 7); PF, Propionibacterium freudenreichii; SH, Salmonella Heidelberg.