Abstract
Background: Recent studies have demonstrated an effect of the gut microbiota on brain development and behavior leading to the concept of the microbiota-gut-brain axis. However, its effect on behavior in birds is unknown. The aim of the present study was to determine the effect of the absence of gut microbiota on emotional reactivity in birds by comparing germ-free (GF) quails to those colonized (COL) with gut microbiota.Material and Methods: From hatching, the quails of both groups GF (n = 36) and COL (n = 36) were reared in sterile isolators. The COL quails were colonized at day 2 by introducing a pool of droppings from conventional adult females into the drinking water and feed. The quails were weighed individually on day 2, 6, and 14. From day 8, emotional reactivity was assessed in each group in the isolators through several behavioral tests.Results: GF quails showed a considerable decrease in emotional reactivity demonstrated by spending less time in tonic immobility during the tonic immobility test (242 s ± 31 vs. 331 s ± 32, p ≤ 0.05), traveling a shorter distance (3,897 cm ± 242 vs. 4,827 cm ± 278, p ≤ 0.05) at a lower velocity (6.55 cm/s ± 0.4 vs. 8.1 cm/s ± 0.5, p ≤ 0.05) during the social separation test and spending more time near an object at the beginning of the novel object test (33.7 s ± 6.4 vs. 18.5 s ± 4.1, p ≤ 0.05). No difference in growth was found between the 2 groups.Conclusion: For the first time, this study demonstrates that the absence of gut microbiota reduces emotional reactivity in Japanese quails in situations of fear and social perturbation without influence on growth.
Highlights
After birth, the newborn gut is quickly and densely colonized by multiple microorganisms that constitute what is called the gut microbiota
Recent studies have demonstrated an effect of these microorganisms on brain development (Bercik et al, 2011; Grenham et al, 2011; Collins et al, 2012; Sampson and Mazmanian, 2015) leading to the concept of the microbiota-gut-brain axis (Cryan and Dinan, 2012; Mayer et al, 2015)
The mechanisms by which the gut microbiota communicate with the central nervous system are still poorly understood but could involve the bloodstream, immune responses via cytokines, hormone release by the endocrine system (Collins et al, 2012; Cryan and Dinan, 2012) or the vagal pathway (Bravo et al, 2011)
Summary
After birth, the newborn gut is quickly and densely colonized by multiple microorganisms that constitute what is called the gut microbiota It is well-known that this gut microbiota is involved in many health processes such as digestion, metabolism or immune responses (O’Hara and Shanahan, 2006; Greer and O’Keefe, 2011; Kamada et al, 2013) and is implicated in certain human diseases such as obesity or Emotional Reactivity and Gut Microbiota in Quails diabetes (Lê et al, 2013; Zhang et al, 2018). Recent studies have demonstrated an effect of these microorganisms on brain development (Bercik et al, 2011; Grenham et al, 2011; Collins et al, 2012; Sampson and Mazmanian, 2015) leading to the concept of the microbiota-gut-brain axis (Cryan and Dinan, 2012; Mayer et al, 2015). The aim of the present study was to determine the effect of the absence of gut microbiota on emotional reactivity in birds by comparing germ-free (GF) quails to those colonized (COL) with gut microbiota
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