Broilers divergently selected for digestibility differ for their digestive microbial ecosystems

PLoS One. 2020 May 18;15(5):e0232418. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0232418. eCollection 2020.

Abstract

Improving the digestive efficiency of broiler chickens (Gallus gallus) could reduce organic waste, increase the use of alternative feed not used for human consumption and reduce the impact of feed in production costs. By selecting chicken lines divergently for their digestive efficiency, we showed previously that digestive efficiency is under genetic control and that the two resulting divergent lines, D+ (high digestive efficiency or "digestibility +") and D- (low digestive efficiency or "digestibility -"), also differ for the abundance of specific bacteria in their caeca. Here we perform a more extensive census of the bacteria present in the digestive microbiota of 60 chickens selected for their low apparent metabolizable energy corrected for nitrogen balance (AMEn-) or high (AMEn+) digestive efficiency in a [D+ x D-] F8 progeny of 200 individuals. We sequenced the 16S rRNA genes of the ileal, jejunal and caecal microbiotas, and compared the compositions and predicted functions of microbiotas from the different intestinal segments for 20 AMEn+ and 19 AMEn- birds. The intestinal segment of origin was the main factor structuring the samples. The caecal microbiota was the most impacted by the differences in digestive efficiency, with 41 bacterial species with abundances differing between highly and poorly efficient birds. Furthermore, we predicted that the caecal microbiota of efficient birds might be enriched in genes contributing to the degradation of short chain fatty acids (SCFA) from non-starch polysaccharides. These results confirm the impact of the genetic selection led on digestibility on the caecal microbiota taxonomic composition. They open the way toward the identification of specific, causal genes of the host controlling variations in the abundances of bacterial taxons.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animal Feed
  • Animal Nutritional Physiological Phenomena
  • Animals
  • Biodiversity
  • Chickens / genetics
  • Chickens / growth & development
  • Chickens / microbiology*
  • Digestion / genetics
  • Digestion / physiology
  • Female
  • Gastrointestinal Microbiome / genetics*
  • Gastrointestinal Microbiome / physiology
  • Host Microbial Interactions / genetics
  • Host Microbial Interactions / physiology
  • Intestines / anatomy & histology
  • Intestines / microbiology
  • Intestines / physiology
  • Male
  • Phylogeny
  • RNA, Ribosomal, 16S / genetics
  • Selection, Genetic

Substances

  • RNA, Ribosomal, 16S

Grants and funding

FC received a grant from her institution, INRA, after submission of her project to the GISA (Gestion Intégrée de la Santé Animale) metaprogramme (http://metaprogrammes.inra.fr/en). The funders approved the contents of this project. Marion Borey had a postdoctoral fellowship funded by Crédit Agricole d’Ile de France Mécénat. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.