2.7 Statistical analysis for α‐diversity of gut bacteria according to host information
All statistical analyses were conducted using the phyloseq and microbiome packages for manipulation of data. Total observed number of bacterial taxa, Chao1, Shannon’s diversity index and Faith’s PD in each sample were used as metrics to measure the α‐diversity of gut bacteria between samples. Chao1 characterizes the overall phylotype richness within a host, Shannon’s diversity index takes into account richness and abundance, and Faith’s PD is an indicator of genetic diversity within a sample. Differences in the indices according to E-mink populations, sex and birth location of the host were analyzed using Kruskal-Wallis rank sum tests. Linear regression models were also conducted with the different measures of the microsatellites and MHC analysis (MLH, F for microsatellite data, MHC motif richness and divergence) as predictors, and microbial richness indexes as response variable. Homogeneity of variance assumptions were tested using Levene tests and normality of the residuals with Shapiro-Wilk tests and visual representations.