Figure 1From: Temporal and technical variability of human gut metagenomesOverview of the study design. This variability assessment was subdivided into five sub-studies. The comparison of technical variability due to fecal preservation methods and stool homogeneity was addressed in sub-studies 1 and 2, respectively. The conditions for the different preservation methods and the numbers of replicates taken are described for these sub-studies. Sub-study 3 was about the temporal variability within and between subjects. One subject underwent antibiotics treatment (sub-study 4) and bowel cleanse (sub-study 5) in the time course of the study. The sampling time points and number of subjects that collected fecal samples are indicated in the timeline.Back to article page