Effects of drinking water supplementation with Lactobacillus reuteri, and a mixture of reuterin and microcin J25 on the growth performance, caecal microbiota and selected metabolites of broiler chickens

Liya Zhang; Laila Ben Said; Nadège Hervé; Séverine Zirah; Moussa Sory Diarra; Ismail Fliss

doi:10.1186/s40104-022-00683-6

Effects of drinking water supplementation with Lactobacillus reuteri, and a mixture of reuterin and microcin J25 on the growth performance, caecal microbiota and selected metabolites of broiler chickens

J Anim Sci Biotechnol. 2022 Mar 5;13(1):34. doi: 10.1186/s40104-022-00683-6.

Authors

Liya Zhang¹, Laila Ben Said¹, Nadège Hervé², Séverine Zirah³, Moussa Sory Diarra⁴, Ismail Fliss⁵

Affiliations

¹ Institute of Nutrition and Functional Foods, Université Laval, QC, Québec, Canada.
² Sollio Agriculture, Montréal, QC, Canada.
³ Molécules de Communication et Adaptation des Microorganismes, Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris, France.
⁴ Guelph Research and Development Centre, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Guelph, ON, Canada.
⁵ Institute of Nutrition and Functional Foods, Université Laval, QC, Québec, Canada. ismail.fliss@fsaa.ulaval.ca.

Abstract

Background: Since the overuse of antibiotics in animal production has led to a selection of antibiotic-resistant pathogens that affect humans and animals as well. Scientists are therefore searching for novel natural alternatives to antibiotics. In this study Lactobacillus reuteri and a combination of reuterin and microcin J25 (RJ) were evaluated as promoters of growth and modulators of the cecal microbiota and metabolite profiles in broiler chickens. One-day-old Cobb 500 male broilers were distributed to 8 treatments: negative control (without antibiotic), positive control (bacitracin), three concentrations of RJ and three doses of L. reuteri plus glycerol. The birds (2176, 34 per pen, 8 pens per treatment) were reared for 35 d.

Results: The body weight of the bacitracin and 5 mmol/L reuterin combined with 0.08 μmol/L microcin J25 (10RJ) treatment group was significantly higher than that of the negative control group (P < 0.05). L. reuteri had no significant effect on broiler growth. MiSeq high-throughput sequencing of 16S rRNA showed clustering of cecal microbial operational taxonomic unit diversity according to treatment. The influence of bacitracin and 10RJ on bacterial community overall structure was similar. They promoted Ruminococcaceae, Lachnospiraceae and Lactobacillaceae, increased the relative abundance of Faecalibacterium and decreased the abundance of Bacteroides and Alistipes, while the negative control condition favored Bacteroidaceae and Rikenellaceae. Furthermore, 10RJ increased the concentration of short-chain fatty acid in the cecum and changed the metabolome overall.

Conclusions: These overall suggest that 10RJ can promote a host-friendly gut environment by changing the cecal microbiome and metabolome. This combination of natural antimicrobial agents in the drinking water had a positive effect on broiler growth and may be suitable as an alternative to antibiotic growth promoters.

Keywords: Broiler chicken; Lactobacillus reuteri; Metabolome; Microbiome; Microcin J25; Reuterin; SCFA.

Abstract

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