Fig. 1

Fecal microbial composition and cecum metabolites in inulin-fed mice. a Relative family-level abundance profiles of mouse fecal microbiomes in the morning and evening before and after 2 weeks of inulin or cellulose feeding. Box plots indicate the phylogenetic composition of the fecal microbiota samples obtained from each mouse by 16S rRNA gene sequencing (n = 5). b, c Linear discriminant analysis (LDA) scores computed for differentially abundant taxa in the fecal microbiomes of mice before fiber feeding, cellulose-, and inulin-fed mice in the morning (b) or evening (c) obtained from each mouse by 16S rRNA gene sequencing. The length indicates the effect size associated with each taxon. p < 0.05 by Wilcoxon signed-rank test; LDA score > 2. d Time-dependent changes in relative family-level abundance profiles of the microbiota in each mouse by 16S rRNA gene sequencing. Nine mice in three different cages from a different animal lot from (a) were fed inulin for 2 weeks, and fecal samples were collected in the morning for microbiome composition analysis. Box plots indicate the phylogenetic compositions of fecal microbiota samples from each mouse (n = 3, one from each cage). e, f Concentrations of butyrate (e) and succinate (f) in the cecum of mice before and after 2 weeks of inulin or cellulose feeding in the morning or evening. The mice are the same as those shown in (a). Violin plots indicate the SCFA concentration in each mouse (n = 5, Tukey’s HSD test)