Effect of storage methods on the alpha diversity.

<p>Chao 1 richness estimate (a) and Shannon index (b) is shown at the y axis and test subjects are shown at the x axis. The blue, green and red bands indicate healthy test subjects, IBS and IBD patients respectively. Only test subjects (17/28) with a complete set of samples (5 different sampling and storage methods) available for analysis are shown. *p<0.01 compared with -80°C as determined by the wilcoxon signed rank test.