Fig. 1

Overview of the experimental design of the study. A total of 6 treatment groups were compared and included no antibiotic treatment with no faecal microbiota transplantation (A⁻/FMT⁻); antibiotic treatment with no FMT (A⁺/FMT⁻); no antibiotic treatment with FMT via gavage (A⁻/FMT^G); antibiotic treatment with FMT via gavage (A⁺/FMT^G); no antibiotic treatment with FMT via water (A⁻/FMT^W); and antibiotic treatment with FMT via water (A⁺/FMT^W). Each treatment was replicated across 2 tanks. Antibiotic treatment was administered by oral gavage 3 days prior to FMT, with sampling conducted at: T0 = immediately prior to FMT; T1 = 2 days post FMT; T2 = 8 days post FMT; and T3 = 15 days post FMT