Review for 10.1186/s12876-018-0810-2 (2018)

Reviewer ’s report  
 
Title: Impact of nutrition and rotavirus infection on the infant gut microbiota in a humanized pig 
model  
 
Version: 1 Date: 02 Mar 2018  
 
Reviewer: Benoit Chassaing  
 
Reviewer's report:  
 
Few important points remained.  
- Regarding my comment on PCoA approach, the authors answered "it is hard to appreciate the 
results generated by the PCoA". That can be true, but PCOA of the Unifrac distance is the 
gold standard approach to see global microbial community structure in an u nbiased approach. 
This need to be performed and reported, since as written and as reported, it is impossible to 
appreciate the impact of nutrition and RV infection on the intestinal microbiota.  
 
- "Caesarean -derived GF piglets were housed individually in st erile isolators (to ensure no 
environmental contamination) throughout the experiment.". More details need to be given 
here. Which isolators, which methods were used to ensure protection against environmental 
contamination, etc...  
 
- Figure 3C: the authors m ay have misinterpreted my request. I was talking about the LogCFU 
x days post HRV challenge figure, which show clear effects for some groups 
(deficient+HIFM+HRV and Deficient+GF+HRV). Hence, having an estimation of global 
HRV shedding during the entire inf ection, using area under the curve, will for sure lead to 
statistically significant differences that will be easy to appreciate for the readers.  
Are the methods appropriate and well described?  
If not, please specify what is required in your comments to the authors.  
 
No 
 
Does the work include the necessary contro ls? 
If not, please specify which controls are required in your comments to the authors.  
 
Yes 
 
Are the conclusions drawn adequately supported by the data shown?  
If not, please explain in your comments to the authors.  
 
Yes 
Are you able to assess any statistics in the manuscript or would you recommend an  
additional statistical review?  
If an additional statistical review is recommended, please specify what aspects require further  
assessment in your comments to the editors.  
 
I am able to assess the statistics  
 
Quality of written English  
Please indicate the quality of language in the manuscript:  
 
Acceptable  
 
Declaration of competing interests  
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