Distribution of bacterial genera and species in carcass swabs, environmental swabs, beefsteaks at time zero (t0) and after one week of aerobic storage at 4°C (t6) in experiment 1 (panel a) and experiment 2 (panel b).

Beefsteaks samples are labeled according to the beef cut of origin: A, brisket; B, chuck; C, thick-flank. Only OTUs occurring at>4% abundance in at least 2 samples were included. Abundance of OTUs in the 3 sub-portions of beefsteaks from experiment 1 was averaged. Color scale indicates the relative abundance of each OTU within the samples.