Fig. 7: Relationships between genera in early biofilms.

a Associations between top 50 genera. Ordinate visualizes the results of R-mode analysis using pairwise Whittaker’s associations. Five genera related to Lactobacillus sensu lato were identified as outliers and were omitted from ordination. Links represent associations >0.4. SIMPROF clusters were highlighted in pink (cluster with the highest number of connections) or in orange (all the other clusters). For more details see Supplementary Fig. 4 and M&M section. b Interactions in early biofilms. Intergeneric interactions were inferred using custom-made database summarizing curated phenotypic information for top 50 genera. Nodes representing genera were placed on a circle and sorted based on phylogeny (see Supplementary Fig. 5). Members of cluster with the highest number of connections are highlighted in pink and their connections are shown as thick lines. Nodes inside circles represent metabolites, enzymes and other biofilm components aggregated at 18 ecological classes. c Ecological interactions between Aggregatibacter, Arachnia, Corynebacterium, Lautropia, Porphyromonas and Saccharibacteria bacterium species which clustered together. Ecological information was retrieved for the most abundant species representing the aforementioned genera. Most important subnetworks were highlighted. (1) Short chain fatty acids. (2) Nitrate reduction. (3) Carbohydrate catabolism. (4) Biofilm re-modeling. (5) Oxidative stress. (6) Alkalinization. (7) Porphyrin metabolism. (8) Hydrolases. (9) Parasitism involving epibiont. Characteristics of relationships (e.g., labels and attributes reflecting prevalence, intensity, etc.) were omitted for clarity. See Results and Discussion for more details.