Fig. 1

Experimental setup of the study. Aliquots of original fresh samples were used for community profiling and for comparison of post-preservation samples kept at − 80°C in four different preservation conditions with or without medium and/or cryoprotectants: dry (P1), CB (P2), CB + glycerol (20%) (P3), and CB + DMSO (5%) (P4). Following preservation, sample dilutions for each condition were plated on mGAM and incubated anaerobically. After 48h, CFU count was determined, and colonies were selected from countable plates for isolation in 96-well microplates and subsequent identification by Sanger 16S rRNA gene sequencing. From the same dilution series, plates with high colony numbers were fully harvested as cultured fractions and subjected to MiSeq community profiling