Abstract
Poultry litter is a mixture of bedding materials and enteric bacteria excreted by chickens, and it is typically reused for multiple growth cycles in commercial broiler production. Thus, bacteria can be transmitted from one growth cycle to the next via litter. However, it remains poorly understood how litter reuse affects development and composition of chicken gut microbiota. In this study, the effect of litter reuse on the microbiota in litter and in chicken gut was investigated using 2 litter management regimens: fresh vs. reused litter. Samples of ileal mucosa and cecal digesta were collected from young chicks (10 days of age) and mature birds (35 days of age). Based on analysis using DGGE and pyrosequencing of bacterial 16S rRNA gene amplicons, the microbiota of both the ileal mucosa and the cecal contents was affected by both litter management regimen and age of birds. Faecalibacterium, Oscillospira, Butyricicoccus, and one unclassified candidate genus closely related to Ruminococcus were most predominant in the cecal samples, while Lactobacillus was predominant in the ileal samples at both ages and in the cecal samples collected at day 10. At days 10 and 35, 8 and 3 genera, respectively, in the cecal luminal microbiota differed significantly in relative abundance between the 2 litter management regimens. Compared to the fresh litter, reused litter increased predominance of halotolerant/alkaliphilic bacteria and Faecalibacterium prausnitzii, a butyrate-producing gut bacterium. This study suggests that litter management regimens affect the chicken GI microbiota, which may impact the host nutritional status and intestinal health.
Highlights
The gastrointestinal (GI) tract of chickens harbors a complex microbiota that plays an essential role in nutrient digestion and absorption, immune system development, and pathogen exclusion (Yeoman et al, 2012; Pan and Yu, 2014)
principle component analysis (PCA) analysis of the DGGE profiles grouped the samples based on sampling types or locations, litter conditions, and age (Figure 1)
(Cressman et al, 2010), fresh litter and reused litter differed in microbiota, but the present study revealed much greater bacterial diversity (21 vs. 2 genera) and more detailed differences in microbiota composition between the two litter management regimens
Summary
The gastrointestinal (GI) tract of chickens harbors a complex microbiota that plays an essential role in nutrient digestion and absorption, immune system development, and pathogen exclusion (Yeoman et al, 2012; Pan and Yu, 2014). Most of the previous studies focused on how feed and feed additives affect the prevalence of enteric pathogens, such as Salmonella (Santos et al, 2008; Peinado et al, 2012), Clostridium perfringens (Si et al, 2009; Wei et al, 2013a), and Campylobacter jejuni (Chinivasagam et al, 2010; Ridley et al, 2011) Prevalence of these pathogens and Litter Reuse Affects Broiler Gut Microbiota the risk of associated diseases can be lowered by a healthy GI microbiota through colonization resistance and competitive exclusion (Wagner, 2006; Callaway et al, 2008; Kerr et al, 2013). Litter can have a significant effect on the development process of GI microbiota and its eventual composition and structure in chickens (Garrido et al, 2004; Torok et al, 2009)
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