Abstract
Environmental light has an important impact on the growth, development and oxidative stress of chicks. Thus, we investigated the effects of colored lights on microbes and explored the molecular mechanism by which external color light information alters the gut microbiota and induces the cell response in vivo. We raised 96 chicks under 400–700 nm white (WL), 660 nm red (RL), 560 nm green (GL) or 480 nm blue light (BL) for 42 days. We used 16S rRNA high-throughput pyrosequencing and gas chromatography to explore the effect of different monochromatic lights on the jejunal microbiota. We used qRT-PCR, western blotting, immunohistochemistry and Elisa to determine the effect of different monochromatic lights on small intestine development and oxidative stress levels. With consistency in the upregulation of antioxidant enzyme ability and anti-inflammatory cytokine level, the 16S rRNA and gas chromatography results showed that BL significantly increased the diversity and richness of the jejunal microbiota and improved the relative abundances of Faecalibacterium, Ruminiclostridium_9 and metabolite butyrate content compared with WL, RL and GL (p < 0.05). In addition, we observed that BL increased the goblet cell numbers, PCNA cell numbers, villus-length-to-crypt-depth (V/C) ratios, ZO-1, Occludin, and Claudin-1 protein expression; decreased permeability; and enhanced the digestion and absorption capacity in the jejunum (p < 0.05). In the in vitro experiment, we found that butyrate promoted chick small intestinal epithelial cell (CIEC) proliferation and inhibited apoptosis (p < 0.05). These responses were abrogated by the Gi inhibitor, PI3K inhibitor or AKT inhibitor, but were mimicked by GPR43 agonists or the GSK-3β inhibitor (p < 0.05). Overall, these findings suggested that BL increased the relative abundance of Faecalibacterium, Ruminiclostridium_9 and butyrate production. Butyrate may act as one of the signals to mediate blue-light-induced small intestinal development and mucosal barrier integrity enhancement and promote cell proliferation via the GPR43/Gi/PI3K/AKT/p-GSK-3β/β-catenin pathway.
Highlights
Introduction iationsIn recent years, the demand for chicken meat and eggs has increased exponentially; the production of chicken meat will increase from 117 million tons to 132 million tons in2026 [1]
By comparing the rarefaction curve and Shannon curves between the four groups, we found that the new OTUs and Shannon index declined with the increase in the sequencing number, which indicated that our samples covered most microbial species information (Figure 1C–F)
Through western blot and methyl thiazolyl tetrazolium (MTT) assays, we found that PTX significantly reduced the expression of cyclinD1 protein and the stimulation index of chick small intestinal epithelial cell (CIEC), respectively, compared with the butyrate group, (Figure 9E,F)
Summary
Introduction iationsIn recent years, the demand for chicken meat and eggs has increased exponentially; the production of chicken meat will increase from 117 million tons to 132 million tons in2026 [1]. The demand for chicken meat and eggs has increased exponentially; the production of chicken meat will increase from 117 million tons to 132 million tons in. Due to huge market demand, a growing number of poultry farms are making technological changes to boost production. A switch from traditional lighting sources to LED is underway. This switch will effectively decrease energy usage, reduce fear and stress, increase growth performance and improve animal welfare [2]. In the early growth stage, the chicks raised under 560 nm green light had higher mitotic activity in their satellite cells [5] and a higher proliferation activity in their T lymphocytes [6], Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland
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