Fig. 4

Esophageal microbial signatures associated with the early stages of the esophageal adenocarcinoma cascade. a Microbial taxa identified using LEfSe analysis to be differentially abundant between GERD and subjects with a normal esophagus. The analysis was performed after stratifying the subjects according to community types. Green, normal; red: GERD. b Microbial taxa identified using LEfSe analysis to be differentially abundant between BE and subjects with a normal esophagus. Only samples designated as BE-Y (not BE-N or BE-GERD) were employed for this analysis. Red, BE. c Microbial taxa identified using LEfSe analysis to be differentially abundant between GM and subjects with a normal esophagus. Samples designated as GM-Y (not GM-N or GM-GERD) were employed for this analysis. Red, GM. d Correlations across species (shotgun MetaPhlan2) for each disease type were calculated using SparCC and correlations greater than 0.2 or lower than − 0.2 were visualized using Cytoscape. The thickness of line reflects the strength of the correlation, while color reflects direction (green, positive; red, negative). Samples designated as BE-Y were employed for this analysis. A complete list of SparCC correlations within each disease subgroup is provided in Additional file 3.8. e MetaCyc pathways identified using LEfSe analysis to be differentially abundant between disease type (GERD or BE) and subjects with a normal esophagus. Only samples designated as BE-Y were employed for this analysis. Green: normal; red: disease (GERD or BE)