3.4 Gene functional predictions
Functional predictions based on the KEGG database at Level 1 suggest that genes in jejunum and cecum microorganisms at different dietary protein levels are mainly enriched in the ‘metabolism pathway’, followed by ‘genetic-information-processing’ and ‘environmental-information-processing’ pathways. In contrast, at Level 2, the main enrichment pathways are ‘membrane-transport’ and ‘carbohydrate-metabolism’. No significant differences in microbial gene KEGG pathways were seen in jejunum samples at different dietary protein levels (Figure 6). In contrast, significant differences in KEGG gene enrichment pathways were seen in cecum samples at the three different dietary protein levels (P < 0.05); these included ‘metabolism’, ‘environmental-information-processing’, and ‘organismal systems’. Similarly, comparing jejunum and cecum microbial KEGG functional predictions at the three different dietary protein levels reveals that enrichment pathways are significantly different, specifically ‘metabolism’ and ‘environment-information-processing’.