Fig. 1: Plant-derived nanoparticle (PNP) uptake by human gut bacteria.

A Schematic representation of the processing of PNP, labeling with PKH26, and administration to germ-free (GF) C57BL/6 J mice colonized with human fecal bacteria (hFB) as well as PNP/PKH26⁺ bacteria analysis (n = 5 mice per group). Nano10 and exosome-like nanoparticles (ELN) collected from centrifugation at 10,000 × g and 100,000 × g, respectively. B The fecal bacteria from healthy subjects (n = 15) pooled together and incubated with PKH26-labeled PNP in an anaerobic chamber at 37 °C for 2 h (indicated as Human LI). An aliquot of human fecal bacteria colonized GF C57BL/6 J mice (hFB). PKH26-labeled PNP administered to mice at 0.5 g/kg (body weight, n = 6) for 2 h. Fecal bacteria collected from large intestine (indicated as Mouse LI) and small intestine (indicated as Mouse SI). The PNP-PKH26⁺ bacteria from feces sorted by FACS, and DNA extracted for next-generation sequencing (NGS) of the 16S rRNA gene. The bar graph shows the percentage of taxonomy OTU in all sequence reads at the level of family. C Principal component analysis (PCA) of different sources and different types of PNP. The similar composition of bacteria is circled as a cluster. D Individual PNP-PKH26⁺ gut microbiota composition from human LI, hFB mice LI, and SI are shown on a principal coordinates analysis (PCoA) test according to their Bray-Curtis dissimilarity at the family taxonomic level. Source data are provided as a Source Data file.