3.2. Sequencing Metadata
Sample analysis was successful for 238/240 samples (99.2%), yielding between 8154 and 602,392 DNA reads after quality check and bioinformatic processing. From the 238 samples, 13,297,945 million reads were retrieved, and 3084 unique OTUs were identified. A total of 95 different bacterial genera were identified corresponding to 96.21% coverage of the generated sequences, while 333 different bacterial species were identified corresponding to 62.68% coverage of the generated sequences. Alpha diversity, determined using the Shannon and Simpson indices, by mean and range was 4.06 (2.18 to 5.4) and 3.19 (1.15 to 4.47) in the placebo group and 4.08 (1.27 to 5.27) and 3.28 (0.52 to 4.97) in the probiotics group, respectively.