Bray-Curtis dissimilarity values of WITS relative abundances within murine tissues during persistent infection.

Mice infected with an equal mixture of 8 WITS strains as described in Figure 1. WITS relative abundances were determined by qPCR, dissimilarity scores between relative abundances in two sites, organ A versus organ B, were calculated by Bray-Curtis analyses (see Materials and Methods). Rows = organ A, columns = organ B. Organ B comparisons were organized into columns based on classification as systemic tissues (spleen, liver, gb), proximal gut sites (pp, si), or distal gut samples (cecum, colon, feces). Scores were computed for each individual mouse (data representative of 3 independent experiments, n = 19), table reflects the mean dissimilarity value for all animals. A Bray-Curtis value of 0 indicates identical WITS profiles (e.g. spleen versus spleen), while a score of 1 represents completely dissimilar WITS abundances. Italicized: Lowest dissimilarity score between systemic tissues (spleen versus liver). Bold and italicized: The three lowest dissimilarity scores observed in distal gut samples.Bray-Curtis dissimilarity values of WITS relative abundances within murine tissues during persistent infection.