Fig. 3

Effects of MLP on the cecal microbiota of laying hens challenged with LPS derived from Escherichia coli. A Venn diagram of operational taxonomic units (OTUs). B and C The cecal bacterial community compositions in control, LPS, and MLP groups at phylum and genus levels. The different colors of the bars represent different species, and the length of the bars represents the proportion of the species. D The heatmap showing the composition of the genus-level microbiota combined with the results from the cluster analysis. E Histogram of the LDA score reveals the most diferentially abundant taxa in CN, CN-LPS, and MLP-LPS groups. F Differential microorganisms were tested using the Kruskal–Wallis H test in control, LPS, and MLP groups. CN, Basal diet; CN-LPS, Basal diet + LPS; MLP-LPS, Basal diet + MLP + LPS