Early life microbiota transplantation from highly feed-efficient broiler improved weight gain by reshaping the gut microbiota in laying chicken

Abdelmotaleb A Elokil; Wei Chen; Khalid Mahrose; Mahmoud M Elattrouny; Khaled F M Abouelezz; Hafiz Ishfaq Ahmad; Hua-Zhen Liu; Ahmed A Elolimy; Mahmoud I Mandouh; Alzahraa M Abdelatty; Shijun Li

doi:10.3389/fmicb.2022.1022783

Early life microbiota transplantation from highly feed-efficient broiler improved weight gain by reshaping the gut microbiota in laying chicken

Front Microbiol. 2022 Nov 18:13:1022783. doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2022.1022783. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Key Laboratory of Agricultural Animal Genetics, Breeding and Reproduction, Ministry of Education, College of Animal Science and Veterinary Medicine, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, Hubei, China.
² Animal Production Department, Faculty of Agriculture, Moshtohor, Benha University, Mushthar, Egypt.
³ Institute of Animal Science, Guangdong Academy of Agricultural Sciences, State Key Laboratory of Livestock and Poultry Breeding, Key Laboratory of Animal Nutrition and Feed Science in South China, Ministry of Agriculture, Key Laboratory of Poultry Genetics and Breeding, Ministry of Agriculture, Guangdong Key Laboratory of Animal Breeding and Nutrition, Guangdong Public Laboratory of Animal Breeding and Nutrition, Guangzhou, China.
⁴ Animal and Poultry Production Department, Faculty of Technology and Development, Zagazig University, Zagazig, Egypt.
⁵ Department of Poultry Production, Faculty of Agriculture, Assiut University, Assiut, Egypt.
⁶ Department of Animal Breeding and Genetics, Faculty of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, The Islamia University of Bahawalpur, Bahawalpur, Pakistan.
⁷ Department of Animal Production, National Research Centre, Giza, Egypt.
⁸ Department of Nutrition and Clinical Nutrition, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Cairo University, Giza, Egypt.

Abstract

Starting phase of laying chicken life is the building stone for rearing and production stages. Since, fecal microbial transplantation (FMT) regulates the gut microbial diversity and affects the productive performance of the bird. The aim of this study is to evaluate the effect of FMT from feed-efficient broiler chicken could program the diversity of gut microbiota and growth of recipient native slow growing egg-laying chicks. For this, a total of 150 (one-day-old) Jing Hong chicks were randomly assigned into two groups, each group consisted of 5 replicates (n = 15 bird/ replicate). The control group (CON) and FMT recipient birds (FMT) fed on basal diet, the FMT group received an oral daily dose of FMT prepared from Cobb-500 chickens. The FMT performed from the 1d to 28d of age, through the experimental period, feed intake and body weight were recorded weekly. At the end of a 28-day trial, carcass traits were assessed and cecal samples were collected for microbiome assessment via 16S rRNA-based metagenomic analysis to characterize the diversity and functions of microbial communities. The data were statistically analyzed using R software. Body weight and body weight gain increased, and FCR decreased (p = 0.01) in FMT group. The relative abundance of Firmicutes and the Firmicutes/Bacteroidetes (F/B) ratio were increased due to FMT administration (p = 0.01). A higher relative abundance of Lactobacillus, Lactococcus, and Bifidobacterium were presented in the FMT group. Meanwhile, Enterococcus, Helicobacter, and Bacteroides were more abundant in the CON group (p < 0.01). Kyoto encyclopedia of genes and genomes (KEGG) pathways for microbial functions regarding amino acid metabolism, secondary metabolites biosynthesis, carbohydrate metabolism, energy metabolism, and enzyme families, cofactors, and vitamins were significantly annotated in the FMT group. Overall, FMT administration from the donor of highly feed-efficient broilers improved weight gain by reshaping a distinct gut microbiome, which may be related to the metabolism and health in the recipients laying chicks, providing new insight on the application of the FMT technique for early life programming of laying chickens.

Keywords: 16S rRNA gene; body weight gain; early life programming; laying chicken; microbial transplantation.