Functional enrichment of gut microbiome by early supplementation of Bacillus based probiotic in cage free hens: a field study

Abstract

Background The chicken gut microbiota passes through different stages of maturation; therefore, strengthening it with well characterised probiotics increases its resilience required for optimum gut health and wellbeing. However, there is limited information on the interaction of Bacillus based probiotics with gut microbial community members in cage free laying chickens both in rearing and production phases of life. In the current study, we investigated the changes in the gut microbiome of free range hens in the field after Bacillus based probiotic supplementation. Results Overall, at phylum level, probiotic supplementation increased the populations of Bacteroidetes and Proteobacteria mainly at the expense of Firmicutes. The population of Bacteroidetes significantly increased during the production as compared to the rearing phase, and its higher population in the probiotic-supplemented chickens reflects the positive role of Bacillus based probiotic in gut health. Core differences in the beta diversity suggest that probiotic supplementation decreased microbial compositionality. The non-significant difference in alpha diversity between the probiotic and control chickens showed that the composition of community structure did not change. No Salmonella spp. were isolated from the probiotic supplemented birds. Egg internal quality was significantly higher, while egg production and body weight did not differ. Functional prediction data showed that probiotic supplementation enriched metabolic pathways, such as vitamin B6 metabolism, phenylpropanoid biosynthesis, monobactam biosynthesis, RNA degradation, retinol metabolism, pantothenate and CoA biosynthesis, phosphonate and phosphinate metabolism, AMPK signaling pathway, cationic antimicrobial peptide (CAMP) resistance and tyrosine metabolism. Conclusions Overall, age was the main factor affecting the composition and diversity of gut microbiota, where probiotic supplementation improved the abundance of many useful candidates in the gut microbial communities. The generated baseline data in the current study highlights the importance of the continuous use of Bacillus based probiotic for optimum gut health and production.

Probiotic Effects of Bacillus licheniformis DSM5749 on Growth Performance and Intestinal Microecological Balance of Laying Hens

“…In the current study, 200g/t 3.2 × 10 9 CFU/kg B. licheniformis DSM5749 increased the egg production rate and average daily egg yield, which was consistent with previous studies ( 19 , 23 – 25 ). In contrast, adding 2.0 g/t of a probiotic consisting of Bacillus subtilis DSM 32324, Bacillus subtilis DSM 32325, and Bacillus amyloliquefaciens DSM 25840 had no remarkable effect on egg production, egg weight, or egg yield ( 26 ). Feed to egg ratio are important indicators of egg production ( 27 ).…”

“…Increased levels of lipase viability after B. licheniformis DSM5749 treatment may be one of the reasons for the increased laying performance in the present study. In addition, one promising approach is microbial modulation, in which intestinal flora are exploited to enhance laying hens’ immune response to improve production performance ( 26 ).…”

Probiotics or synbiotics addition to sows’ diets alters colonic microbiome composition and metabolome profiles of offspring pigs

“…Spirochaetes include several pathogens, such as Treponema ( Nakamura, 2020 ). Proteobacteria also contain opportunistic pathogens, such as Campylobacter , Escherichia , Shigella , Salmonella , and Helicobacter ( Khan and Chousalkar, 2021 ), and the proliferation of multiple anaerobic bacteria in Proteobacteria can lead to gut dysbiosis and inflammation in the host ( Bäumler and Sperandio, 2016 ). In addition, Streptococcus is a potentially pathogenic bacteria, being presumably involved in colon carcinogenesis ( Goyette-Desjardins et al, 2014 ).…”

Effects of Sublethally Injured Campylobacter jejuni in Mice

“…DNA was extracted from approximately 100 mg of feces using the QIAamp Fast DNA stool minikit (Qiagen, Australia) according to the manufacturer’s recommended protocol with some modifications, as previously described ( 56 ). DNA was extracted from 200 μL of tissue homogenate using a DNeasy blood and tissue kit (Qiagen, Australia) according to the manufacturer’s protocol.…”