fig1
Figure 1. Microbiome data of the i-screen pre-culture (t = 0 h, n = 3), the i-screen control, and inulin-supplemented fermentations with pooled microbiota samples (both t = 24 h, n = 9 or n = 6, respectively). (A) Shannon index showing a significant increase in microbial alpha diversity after incubation with inulin. Black error bars with points represent estimated marginal means with standard errors, obtained from linear mixed-effects models; (B) PCA plot showing the relationship between the microbiota samples and the most abundant bacterial genera identified. The darker dots represent the average per sample type (pre-culture t = 0 h, control t = 24 h, and inulin supplementation t = 24 h), and the lighter dots represent replicates. The position of the dots in the PCA plot is indicative of the microbiota composition of the corresponding samples. Hence, dots that are closer to each other represent samples that are more similar to each other in microbiota composition. The clustering of dots based on color indicates that the microbiota composition of the control samples is distinct from that of the inulin-supplemented samples and that both are different from the pre-culture at t = 0 h; (C) Differential abundance of microbial genera between control and inulin-supplemented fermentations. The heatmap illustrates the log2 fold change (Log2FC) in the abundance of microbial genera between inulin treated and untreated conditions: after 24 h of fermentation in the i-screen. Each row represents a genus, reordered based on the magnitude of Log2FC. Color intensity indicates the degree of increase in relative abundance (yellow) or decrease (blue) relative to the control condition. White circles highlight genera with statistically significant changes (P ≤ 0.01). The analysis accounts for variability within replicate samples using a mixed model framework; (D) Relative abundance (%) of the 20 most abundant taxa on genus level for all experimental replicates per condition (pre-culture t =
