Discussion Questions that will need to be answered from a graph/context I do not understand. I will
provide a graph in the file area and some information that goes with it. Explain the following.
Which graph type: what is on each axis, the legend, data types, and P values. Also, describe how
maternal exposure to microbes can affect the immune system development of offspring.
Closed circles represent the offspring of mothers that were exposed to E.coli during pregnancy -Gestational Colonicstion-.
Open circles represent the offspring of mothers that remained germ-free throughout pregnancy -Control-
The figure shows the offsprings number of an innate immune cell, known as NKp46+ILC3, After Birth.
1. What trend(s) do you see in ILC3 numbers in the experimental and control groups of mouse pups?
2. 2. Why is it important to show the control group on the graph?
3. Describe what is happening to the variation in ILC3 numbers (represented by standard deviation) over the 60 days. How might a larger
sample size affect this variation?
4. If a reasonable null hypothesis is that there is no difference in the number of ILC3 cells between the control and experimental mouse pups, do the p-values reject this null? Cite evidence from the graph.
5. How long does the effect from the maternal exposure last in this study? What is your evidence for this claim?
6. How is it possible that the ILC3 trend continued even after weaning at 25 days?
7. Why is it important to the experiment that no live microbes were detected in the placentas of the mothers or the intestines of the newborn pups?
8. How is the increase in IL3 in the gestational colonization group possible without direct exposure to the H!107 bacteria? In other words, can you explain how the mothers immune response might contribute to this effect in her pups?
9. Use evidence from the figure to support the scientists claim that maternal exposure to bacteria affects postnatal immunity.
10. Based on this study, what can you infer about the impact of the mothers immune system on the pups future exposure to environmental bacteria? Why is this information useful?