1. Comparison of levels of microbiome diversity by BMI, stratified by geography.
Comparison of levels of microbiome diversity by BMI, stratified by geography. To put our data in the context of a larger study, we performed closed-reference OTU picking to compare OTU counts across our data set and 1,000 random samples from the American Gut project. In all geographic regions (Montreal, Nunavut, and the United States), lean individuals (BMI = <25) had slightly higher diversity (number of observed OTUs) than overweight individuals (BMI >25), but the differences were not significant for any of the comparisons (Mann-Whitney test; P > 0.05). Box plots show the median, and whiskers show 25% and 75% quartiles.
Catherine Girard et al. mSphere 2017; doi: /mSphere