FIG 4.

Screening of microbial biomarkers of the cecum at the genus level. (A) Differential analysis of cecum microbes at the genus level; (B and C) differential volcano map (x-axis coordinate, log₂ fold change [FC]; y-axis coordinate, adjusted P value). Each point in the graph represents an operational taxonomic unit (OTU), and the two lines parallel to the y axis represent FC = 2 and FC = −2. The dotted line parallel to the x axis represents −log₁₀ (0.05), and the points above the dotted line represent OTUs with significance at P < 0.05. For each OTU, when P is <0.05 and at an FC of ≥2, the OTU has an intergroup difference. (D and F) Linear discriminant analysis (LDA) effect size (LEfSe) analysis representing differentially abundant taxa in the cecum (CCe and MSCe and CCe and PMSCe); (E and G) LDA cladogram (CCe and MSCe and CCe and PMSCe); (H and I) differential expression of intestinal microbes: (H) Lactobacillus and (I) Christensenellaceae_R-7_group. Values are the mean ± SD. *, 0.01 < P < 0.05; **, P < 0.01. CCe, cecum of the control; MSCe, cecum of the mulberry silage group; PMSCe, cecum of the paper mulberry silage group. There were 4 samples in cecum per treatment (n = 4).