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EBM Collection: Composition and Function of Poultry Gut Microbiota

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A special issue of Animals (ISSN 2076-2615). This special issue belongs to the section "Poultry".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 December 2024 | Viewed by 4499

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Special Issue Editors

Dr. Dragana Dana Stanley

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Guest Editor

School of Health, Medical and Applied Sciences, Central Queensland University, North Rockhampton, Australia
Interests: intestinal health; probiotics; microbial ecology; livestock research; immunology
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Dr. Thi Thu Hao Van

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Guest Editor

School of Science, RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia
Interests: poultry pathogens; probiotics; microbiology; microbial ecology; livestock research; vaccine development; gut health
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The last decade of research has brought about an increased interest and advancements in knowledge about the roles intestinal microbial communities play in the health and performance of all animals. Poultry production is a high-stress environment where the birds are often exposed to a high animal density, an overload of pathogens, excreta, and a high production of stress manifested as either the rapid growth in broilers or high egg production in layers. The influence of both beneficial and detrimental microbiota is more pronounced under stress, and the benefits of a balanced and beneficial microbial community to bird health, welfare, and performance are well documented. In this Special Issue of Animals, we invite submissions of manuscripts investigating the roles of intestinal microbiota in poultry health and their interactions with the environment, nutrition, gene expression, and bird behaviour, focusing on improving bird welfare and performance. We encourage the submission of highly investigative manuscripts with clear objectives rather than papers cataloguing microbiota under different conditions.

Dr. Dragana Dana Stanley
Dr. Thi Thu Hao Van
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Animals is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

poultry
intestinal
microbiota
performance
function
broiler
layer

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

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17 pages, 3932 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Precision Glycan Supplementation Improves Gut Microbiota Diversity, Performance, and Disease Outbreak Resistance in Broiler Chickens

by Edina Lobo, Yadav S. Bajagai, Advait Kayal, Santiago Ramirez, Anja Nikolić, Rolando Valientes and Dragana Stanley

Animals 2024, 14(1), 32; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani14010032 (registering DOI) - 21 Dec 2023

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Abstract

The poultry industry contributes significantly to the global meat industry but faces many production challenges like high-density housing, welfare issues, and pathogenic infections. While antibiotics have commonly been used to treat many of these issues, they are being removed from poultry production globally due to increased microbial resistance. Precision glycans offer a viable alternative to antibiotics by modulating microbial metabolic pathways. In this study, we investigated the effects of precision glycan supplementation on productivity and gut microbiota in broilers. The experiment was conducted in a commercial setting using 32,400 male Ross chickens randomly divided into three sheds with 10,800 birds each. One shed with 12 pen replicates of 900 birds was used as control, while the other two with an equal number of replicates and birds were assigned to precision glycan supplementation. The treatment significantly improved the average daily weight gain and feed conversion ratio, with a significant modification in the abundance of several bacterial taxa in the caecum, ileum, and ileum mucosa microbial communities. There was increased richness and diversity in the caecum, with a reduction in Proteobacteria and an increase in Firmicutes. Richness remained unchanged in the ileum, with an increase in diversity and reduction in pathogenic genera like Clostridium and Escherichia-Shigella. Ileum mucosa showed a lower abundance of mucin degraders and an increased presence of next-generation probiotics. Supplemented birds showed a high level of disease resistance when the farm experienced an outbreak of infectious bronchitis, evidenced by lower mortality. Histological analysis confirmed improvements in the ileum and liver health, where the precision glycan supplementation reduced the area of congested sinusoids compared to the control group in the liver and significantly improved ileum intestinal morphology by increasing crypt depth and surface area. These results collectively suggest that precision glycans offer substantial benefits in poultry production by improving productivity, gut health, and disease resistance. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue EBM Collection: Composition and Function of Poultry Gut Microbiota)

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22 pages, 5202 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Integrated Analysis of the Effects of Cecal Microbiota and Serum Metabolome on Market Weights of Chinese Native Chickens

by Shenghong Yang, Yongxian Yang, Xiaoxia Long, Hui Li, Fuping Zhang and Zhong Wang

Animals 2023, 13(19), 3034; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani13193034 - 27 Sep 2023

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1249

Abstract

The gut microbiota plays an important role in the physiological activities of the host and affects the formation of important economic traits in livestock farming. The effects of cecal microbiota on chicken weights were investigated using the Guizhou yellow chicken as a model. Experimental cohorts from chickens with high- (HC, n = 16) and low-market-weights (LC, n = 16) were collected. Microbial 16S rRNA gene sequencing and non-targeted serum metabolome data were integrated to explore the effect and metabolic mechanism of cecal microbiota on market weight. The genera Lachnoclostridium, Alistipes, Negativibacillus, Sellimonas, and Ruminococcus torques were enriched in the HC group, while Phascolarctobacterium was enriched in the LC group (p < 0.05). Metabolomic analysis determined that pantothenic acid (vitamin B5), luvangetin (2H-1-benzopyran-6-acrylic acid), and menadione (vitamin K3) were significantly higher in HC serum, while beclomethasone dipropionate (a glucocorticoid) and chlorophene (2-benzyl-4-chlorophenol) were present at higher levels in the LC group. The microbes enriched in HC were significantly positively correlated with metabolites, including pantothenic acid and menadione, and negatively correlated with beclomethasone dipropionate and chlorophene. These results indicated that specific cecal bacteria in Guizhou yellow chickens alter the host metabolism and growth performance. This study provides a reference for revealing the mechanism of cecal microbe actions that affect chicken body weight. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue EBM Collection: Composition and Function of Poultry Gut Microbiota)

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15 pages, 724 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Hatching Time of Broiler Chickens Modifies Not Only the Production Traits but Also the Early Bacteriota Development of the Ceca

by Nikoletta Such, Kornél Schermann, László Pál, László Menyhárt, Valéria Farkas, Gábor Csitári, Brigitta Kiss, Kesete Goitom Tewelde and Károly Dublecz

Animals 2023, 13(17), 2712; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani13172712 - 25 Aug 2023

Viewed by 669

Abstract

This trial was carried out to find out the effects of the parent flock and hatching time of broiler chickens on the production traits and bacteriota development of animals. Two sets of 730 hatching eggs were collected from two different parent flocks with ages of 25 and 50 weeks. In the hatchery, both groups were divided into two subgroups: those hatched during the first 10 and the subsequent 10 h of the hatching window. A feeding trial was carried out afterwards, using the four treatments in six replicate floor pens and feeding commercial starter, grower, and finisher diets that contained all the nutrients according to the breeder’s recommendations. The day-old chickens of the older parent flock and those hatched later were heavier, and this advantage remained until the end of the production period. The different ages and origins of the parent flocks failed to modify the microbiological parameters of the chicken’s ceca; however, the hatching time significantly influenced the different bacteriota diversity indices: the late-hatched chickens showed higher Bacteroidetes and lower Firmicutes and Actinobacteria abundances at day 11. These treatments resulted in differences in the main families, Ruminococcaceae, Lactobacillaceae, and Bacteroidaceae. These differences could not be found at day 39. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue EBM Collection: Composition and Function of Poultry Gut Microbiota)

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Review

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14 pages, 733 KiB

Open AccessReview

Phenotype Alterations in the Cecal Ecosystem Involved in the Asymptomatic Intestinal Persistence of Paratyphoid Salmonella in Chickens

by Michael H. Kogut and Mariano Enrique Fernandez Miyakawa

Animals 2023, 13(18), 2824; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani13182824 - 6 Sep 2023

Viewed by 974

Abstract

The gastrointestinal ecosystem involves interactions between the host, gut microbiota, and external environment. To colonize the gut of poultry, Salmonella must surmount barriers levied by the intestine including mucosal innate immune responses and microbiota-mediated niche restrictions. Accordingly, comprehending Salmonella intestinal colonization in poultry requires an understanding of how the pathogen interacts with the intestinal ecosystem. In chickens, the paratyphoid Salmonella have evolved the capacity to survive the initial immune response and persist in the avian ceca for months without triggering clinical signs. The persistence of a Salmonella infection in the avian host involves both host defenses and tolerogenic defense strategies. The initial phase of the Salmonella–gut ecosystem interaction is characteristically an innate pro-inflammatory response that controls bacterial invasion. The second phase is initiated by an expansion of the T regulatory cell population in the cecum of Salmonella-infected chickens accompanied by well-defined shifts in the enteric neuro-immunometabolic pathways that changes the local phenotype from pro-inflammatory to an anti-inflammatory environment. Thus, paratyphoid Salmonella in chickens have evolved a unique survival strategy that minimizes the inflammatory response (disease resistance) during the initial infection and then induces an immunometabolic reprogramming in the cecum that alters the host defense to disease tolerance that provides an environment conducive to drive asymptomatic carriage of the bacterial pathogen. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue EBM Collection: Composition and Function of Poultry Gut Microbiota)

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