Search for Articles:
Title / Keyword
Author / Affiliation / Email
Journal
Article Type
 
 
Advanced Search
 
Section
Special Issue
Volume
Issue
Number
Page
 
7.4
4.1
Journals
Microorganisms
Special Issues
Gut Microbiota of Food Animal
share announcement

Gut Microbiota of Food Animal

A special issue of Microorganisms (ISSN 2076-2607). This special issue belongs to the section "Veterinary Microbiology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 15 May 2025 | Viewed by 3244

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Benoit St Pierre

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Animal Science, South Dakota State University, Animal Science Complex, Box 2170, Brookings, SD 57007, USA
Interests: gut microbiota; microbial ecology; bioinformatics; food animals; metagenomics
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

As ensuring food security remains one of our generation’s main global challenges, food animals’ contribution has been recognized as essential in meeting the demands of a rapidly growing and urbanizing global population. However, increasing animal production presents several challenges, ranging from mitigating disease outbreaks and ensuring animal health to improving feed efficiency, while minimizing its impact on the environment. In the gut reside complex microbial communities that play essential roles in ensuring the health of their host, contributing to various functions such as disease resistance and nutrition. While it has been the subject of a sustained research effort for many years, elucidating the complexities of the gut microbiota remains a challenging subject for basic and applied scientists.

In this context, I am pleased to invite you to contribute to the “Gut Microbiota of Food Animals” Special Issue, aiming to present original research or perspectives on the microbial communities which reside in the gut of food animals. Suitable host species can range from aquatic species to poultry, swine, or ruminants, but studies involving wild, feral, or companion animal species will be considered out of scope.

In this Special Issue, original research articles and reviews are welcome on research areas that may include (but are not limited to) the following:

  • composition and/or functional dynamics of gut bacterial, archaeal, protozoal, and/or fungal communities from food animal hosts in response to dietary treatments or other conditions;
  • host–microbiota interactions;
  • interactions amongst microbial species or groups;
  • microbial ecology of the gut environment.

I look forward to receiving your contributions.

Dr. Benoit St Pierre
Guest Editor

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. Microorganisms is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly 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 2700 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

  • food animals
  • gut health
  • microbiota
  • microbial ecology
  • metagenomics
  • bioinformatics
  • metabolomics
  • culturomics

Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue

  • Ease of navigation: Grouping papers by topic helps scholars navigate broad scope journals more efficiently.
  • Greater discoverability: Special Issues support the reach and impact of scientific research. Articles in Special Issues are more discoverable and cited more frequently.
  • Expansion of research network: Special Issues facilitate connections among authors, fostering scientific collaborations.
  • External promotion: Articles in Special Issues are often promoted through the journal's social media, increasing their visibility.
  • e-Book format: Special Issues with more than 10 articles can be published as dedicated e-books, ensuring wide and rapid dissemination.

Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.

Published Papers (3 papers)

Download All Papers
Order results
Result details
Show export options expand_more Show export options expand_less
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

Jump to: Review

16 pages, 813 KiB  
Article
Impact of Feed Composition on Rumen Microbial Dynamics and Phenotypic Traits in Beef Cattle
by André L. A. Neves, Ricardo Augusto Mendonça Vieira, Einar Vargas-Bello-Pérez, Yanhong Chen, Tim McAllister, Kim H. Ominski, Limei Lin and Le Luo Guan
Microorganisms 2025, 13(2), 310; https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms13020310 - 31 Jan 2025
Viewed by 858
Abstract
The rumen microbiome is central to feed digestion and host performance, making it an important target for improving ruminant productivity and sustainability. This study investigated how feed composition influences rumen microbial abundance and phenotypic traits in beef cattle. Fifty-nine Angus bulls were assigned [...] Read more.
The rumen microbiome is central to feed digestion and host performance, making it an important target for improving ruminant productivity and sustainability. This study investigated how feed composition influences rumen microbial abundance and phenotypic traits in beef cattle. Fifty-nine Angus bulls were assigned to forage- and grain-based diets in a randomized block design, evaluating microbial dynamics, methane emissions, and feed efficiency. Quantitative PCR (qPCR) quantified bacterial, archaeal, fungal, and protozoal populations. Grain-based diets reduced bacterial and fungal counts compared to forage diets (1.1 × 1011 vs. 2.8 × 1011 copies of 16S rRNA genes and 1.5 × 103 vs. 3.5 × 104 copies of 18S rRNA genes/mL, respectively), while protozoan and methanogen populations remained stable. Microbial abundance correlated with feed intake metrics, including dry matter and neutral detergent fiber intakes. Methane emissions were lower in grain-fed bulls (14.8 vs. 18.0 L CH4/kg DMI), though feed efficiency metrics showed no direct association with microbial abundance. Comparative analysis revealed adaptive microbial shifts in response to dietary changes, with functional redundancy maintaining rumen stability and supporting host performance. These findings provide insights into how feed composition shapes rumen microbial dynamics and host phenotypes, highlighting the functional adaptability of the rumen microbiome during dietary transitions. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Gut Microbiota of Food Animal)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

16 pages, 674 KiB  
Article
Impact of Lactobacillus- and Bifidobacterium-Based Direct-Fed Microbials on the Performance, Intestinal Morphology, and Fecal Bacterial Populations of Nursery Pigs
by Juan Castillo Zuniga, Anlly M. Fresno Rueda, Ryan S. Samuel, Benoit St-Pierre and Crystal L. Levesque
Microorganisms 2024, 12(9), 1786; https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms12091786 - 28 Aug 2024
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1368
Abstract
Weaning is a critical stage in the swine production cycle, as young pigs need to adjust to sudden and dramatic changes in their diet and environment. Among the various organ systems affected, the gastrointestinal tract is one of the more severely impacted during [...] Read more.
Weaning is a critical stage in the swine production cycle, as young pigs need to adjust to sudden and dramatic changes in their diet and environment. Among the various organ systems affected, the gastrointestinal tract is one of the more severely impacted during this transition. Traditionally, challenges at weaning have been managed by prophylactic use of antibiotics, which not only provides protection against diarrhea and other gut dysfunction but also has growth-promoting effects. With banning or major restrictions on the use of antibiotics for this purpose, various alternative products have been developed as potential replacements, including direct-fed microbials (DFMs) such as probiotics and postbiotics. As their efficiency needs to be improved, a continued effort to gain a deeper understanding of their mechanism of action is necessary. In this context, this report presents a study on the impact of a Lactobacillus-based probiotic (LPr) and a Bifidobacterium-based postbiotic (BPo) when added to the diet during the nursery phase. For animal performance, an effect was observed in the early stages (Day 0 to Day 10), as pigs fed diets supplemented with either DFMs were found to have higher average daily feed intake (ADFI) compared to pigs fed the control diet (p < 0.05). Histological analysis of intestinal morphology on D10 revealed that the ileum of supplemented pigs had a higher villus height/crypt depth ratio (p < 0.05) compared to controls, indicating a benefit of the DFMs for gut health. In an effort to further explore potential mechanisms of action, the effects of the DFMs on gut microbial composition were investigated using fecal microbial communities as a non-invasive representative approach. At the bacterial family level, Lactobacillaceae were found in higher abundance in pigs fed either LPr (D10; p < 0.05) or BPo (D47; p < 0.05). At the Operational Taxonomic Unit (OTU) level, which can be used as a proxy to assess species composition, Ssd-00950 and Ssd-01187 were found in higher abundance in DFM-supplemented pigs on D47 (p < 0.05). Using nucleotide sequence identity, these OTUs were predicted to be putative strains of Congobacterium massiliense and Absicoccus porci, respectively. In contrast, OTU Ssd-00039, which was predicted to be a strain of Streptococcus alactolyticus, was in lower abundance in BPo-supplemented pigs on D47 (p < 0.05). Together, these results indicate that the DFMs tested in this study can impact various aspects of gut function. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Gut Microbiota of Food Animal)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

Review

Jump to: Research

24 pages, 8608 KiB  
Review
Gut–X Axis and Its Role in Poultry Bone Health: A Review
by Ya-Nan Lu, Tao-Jing Yue, Wen-Li Ding, Bo-Wen Xu, Ao-Yun Li and Shu-Cheng Huang
Microorganisms 2025, 13(4), 757; https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms13040757 - 27 Mar 2025
Viewed by 442
Abstract
The normal development and growth of bones are critical for poultry health. With the rapid increase in poultry growth rates achieved over the last few decades, juvenile meat-type poultry exhibit a high incidence of leg weakness and lameness. These issues are significant contributors [...] Read more.
The normal development and growth of bones are critical for poultry health. With the rapid increase in poultry growth rates achieved over the last few decades, juvenile meat-type poultry exhibit a high incidence of leg weakness and lameness. These issues are significant contributors to poor animal welfare and substantial economic losses. Understanding the potential etiology of bone problems in poultry will aid in developing treatments for bone diseases. The gut microbiota represents the largest micro-ecosystem in animals and is closely related to many metabolic disorders, including bone disease. It achieves this by secreting secondary metabolites and coordinating with various tissues and organs through the circulatory system, which leads to the concept of the gut–X axis. Given its importance, modulating gut microbiota to influence the gut–X axis presents new opportunities for understanding and developing innovative therapeutic approaches for poultry bone diseases. In light of the extensive literature on this topic, this review focuses on the effects of gut microbiota on bone density and strength in poultry, both directly and indirectly, through the regulation of the gut–X axis. Our aim is to provide scientific insights into the bone health problems faced by poultry. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Gut Microbiota of Food Animal)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

Show export options expand_more Show export options expand_less
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:
 
Displaying articles 1-3
Back to TopTop