Gut microbes might hold the key to chicken growth and health
A new open-access study published in ISME Communications sheds light on how gut bacteria may influence the growth and health of chickens - important research with great implications for global food production.
An international team of researchers led by researchers from Center for Evolutionary Hologenomics analysed hundreds of microbiome samples from broiler chickens, tracking how gut bacteria evolve from hatching to slaughter age. By reconstructing over 800 bacterial genomes, the scientists mapped not just which microbes are present, but what they are capable of doing.
A shift over time
Their findings reveal an interesting shift in the gut ecosystem over time. Young chickens host a diverse community of metabolically flexible “generalist” bacteria. As the birds mature, these “generalists” are gradually replaced by more specialised microbes with smaller genomes and narrower functions. Surprisingly, the weight of the chickens at slaughter age was associated with the proportion of such “specialist” bacteria.
The beneficial bacteria
The researchers dug on the composition and activity of the specialist bacteria, and found that not all of them are beneficial. Only a small subset, a newly discovered clade known as UBA660, was positively associated with higher body weight, with some others actually linked to reduced growth.
“Our gene expression analyses revealed that despite having a reduced functional repertoire, UBA660 showed higher metabolic activity than other genome-reduced bacteria, particularly in producing key compounds for host nutrition and gut health, including the essential amino acid lysine and the signalling molecule indole-3-acetate.” says Associate Professor Antton Alberdi
Promising future implications
“These insights could help reshape poultry farming by identifying and potentially cultivating new beneficial gut microbes beyond the taxa that have been traditionally employed as probiotics, such as Bacteroides or Lactobacillus. ” Antton Alberdi adds.
Overall, the study highlights the complex and dynamic role of the gut microbiome and points to untapped microbial species as promising tools for more sustainable livestock production.
Read the Open Access paper in ISME Communications here.
Contact
Associate Professor Antton Alberdi