16S rRNA sequencing of sample L_7
Fecal samples were collected from rats housed in three cages per group and stored at 80C. The V3V4 region of the 16S rRNA gene was amplified using Herculase II Fusion DNA Polymerase and Nextera XT Index V2 Kit, following the 16S Metagenomic Sequencing Library Preparation protocol (Illumina, Part #15044223 Rev. B). Sequencing was performed on the Illumina MiSeq platform with paired-end reads (2  301 bp). Quality filtering and assembly were done using Q20/Q30 and FLASH, respectively. OTU clustering was conducted with CD-HIT-OTU, and taxonomic assignment was carried out using QIIME with UCLUST and the RDP database.