Fig. 2.

Structure, diversity, and functional features of intestinal microbiota in stressed adult. (a) Non-metric multidimensional scaling (NMDS) analysis (Bray-Curtis similarity index). Symbols representing samples of the placebo (Pla) and probiotic (Pro) groups are shown in different colors. Triangles and circles represent weeks 0 and 12 samples, respectively. (b) Significantly larger Aitchison distance was observed in the gut microbiota (week 0 versus week 12) of the placebo group than the probiotic group. (c) Shannon diversity index of the two groups at two different time points. (d) Distribution of species-level genome bins (SGBs) that possessed predicted neuroactive metabolite-related pathways or gut brain modules (GBMs) across different phyla. The number written next to the phylum name indicates the quantity of SGBs distributed in that phylum. The purple, light blue, and red triangles represent rare, general, and ubiquitous pathways, respectively. (For interpretation of the references to color in this figure legend, the reader is referred to the Web version of this article.)