Bacillus pumilus and Bacillus subtilis Promote Early Maturation of Cecal Microbiota in Broiler Chickens

Abstract

Mature and stable intestinal microbiota in chickens is essential for health and production. Slow development of microbiota in young chickens prolongs the precarious period before reaching mature configuration. Whether probiotics can play a role in the early maturation of intestinal microbiota is unknown. To address this, day-old chicks were assigned into six groups: NC (basal diet), PC (virginiamycin), low (BPL) and high-dose (BPH) of Bacillus pumilus, and low (BSL) and high-dose (BSH) of Bacillus subtilis. Cecal contents at days 7, 14, 28 and 42 were used to analyze the treatment and time effects on the diversity and composition of microbiota. Overall, the alpha diversity was significantly decreased in the NC group between days 7 and 14, while this decline was prevented in the Bacillus subtilis probiotic (BSL and BSH) and even reversed in the BPH group. The beta-diversity showed significant responses of microbial communities to probiotics in first two weeks of life. Analyses of the abundance of microbiota reflected that members of the family Ruminococcaceae (Ruminnococcus, Oscillospira, Faecalibacterium, Butyricicoccus, and Subdoligranulum), which were dominant in mature microbiota, were significantly higher in abundance at day 14 in the probiotic groups. Conversely, the abundance of genera within the family Lachnospiraceae (Ruminococcus, Blautia, and Coprococcus) was dominant in early dynamic microbiota but was significantly lower in the probiotic groups at day 14. The Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium abundance was higher, while the Enterobacteriaceae abundance was lower in the probiotic groups. In summary, the probiotics efficiently helped the cecal microbiota reach mature configuration earlier in life. These results could be used for the future manipulation of microbiota from the perspective of improving poultry performance.

Dietary Component-Induced Inflammation and Its Amelioration by Prebiotics, Probiotics, and Synbiotics

“…The probiotic industry is growing annually at estimated rate of 7% (150). The health benefits of probiotics have been documented in humans (151), livestock (152), and poultry (153)(154)(155). Probiotic preparations are mostly based on Bifidobacterium and Lactobacillus spp.…”

Bacillus pumilus TS1 alleviates Salmonella Enteritidis-induced intestinal injury in broilers

“…Although several potentially probiotic Bacillus strains have been reported, the number of Bacillus strains used in animal feed, especially in poultry feed, is limited [12]. Bacillus pumilus, which is approved for use as a feed additive in poultry diets in China, improves the composition of the cecal microflora of poultry birds at an early age, stimulates the immune system, and produces antimicrobial compounds to protect the body against pathogen attack [13][14][15][16][17][18]; therefore, the present study aimed to investigate whether our TS1 alleviates SE-induced oxidative and inflammatory damage in poultry.Oxidative stress occurs when the body is subjected to various harmful stimuli [19][20][21], which lead to elevated levels of highly active molecules in the body, such as reactive oxygen species (ROS) [22] and reactive nitrogen [23]. Under these conditions, the oxide-scavenging capacity of cells is significantly lower than the antioxidant capacity necessary against the existing degree of oxidation [24].…”

Investigating antibiotic free feed additives for growth promotion in poultry: effects on performance and microbiota

“…Escherichia-Shigella, Enterococcus, and Streptococcus were the most predominant genera when the birds were younger while Lachnospiraceae family and Fecalibacterium genus were the most predominant taxa by 21 d of age, as indicated in the PCA plot. Lachnospiraceae and Fecalibacterium belong to the Firmicutes phylum, which has been positively associated with host intestinal health ( Zhang et al, 2012 ; Ballou et al, 2016 ; Bilal et al, 2021 ; Mohamed et al, 2022 ; Li et al, 2022 ). Several bacteria present in this group are involved in the production of short chain fatty acids and the degradation of sugar and polysaccharides, favoring host energy regulation and mucosal integrity thereby promoting improvement in animal growth performance ( Rajput et al, 2013 ; Ma et al, 2018 ; Zhang et al, 2020 ).…”