Fig. 1

Comparison of the diversity of gut microbiome among four ages. The gut microbial richness was estimated by observed species, chao and ace index. The diversity was evaluated by Shannon and Simpson index. PCoA of the fecal bacterial communities was based on the Bray-Curtis similarity matrix. (a) Observed species. (b) Chao. (c) ACE. (d) Shannon index. (e) Simpson index. (f) PCoA plot based on the Bray-Curtis similarity matrix. Wilcoxon t-test was used to compare the richness and diversity of gut microbiota between two successive ages (NS: not significant, *P ≤ 0.05, **P ≤ 0.01, ***P ≤ 0.001)