Lactobacillus salivarius CML352 Isolated from Chinese Local Breed Chicken Modulates the Gut Microbiota and Improves Intestinal Health and Egg Quality in Late-Phase Laying Hens

Abstract

Lactobacillus strains with fine probiotic properties are continuously needed in the laying hen industry to improve the animals’ gut health and production performance. In this study, we isolated 57 Lactobacillus strains from the gut microbiota of 17 different chicken breeds in China. We characterized the probiotic features of these isolates, and evaluated the effects of a selected strain, Lactobacillus salivarius CML352, on the production performance and gut health of the late-phase laying hens. The results showed that the isolates varied much in probiotic properties, among which L. salivarius CML352 displayed high acid and bile salt tolerance, high hydrophobicity, auto-aggregation, and antibacterial activities. Whole genome sequencing analysis showed that CML352 was closely related to a strain isolated from human fecal samples, but had different functional potentials. Dietary supplementary of L. salivarius CML352 significantly reduced the Firmicutes to Bacteroidetes ratio, increased the expression of Muc-2, and decreased the expression of MyD88, IFN-γ, and TLR-4. Furthermore, strain CML352 reduced the birds’ abdominal fat deposition, and improved egg quality. Taken together, this study indicated that the newly isolated L. salivarius strain might be a worthy probiotic with positive impacts on the intestinal health and production performance of late-phase laying hens.

Enhancing egg production and quality by the supplementation of probiotic strains (Clostridium and Brevibacillus) via improved amino acid digestibility, intestinal health, immune response, and antioxidant activity

“…Also, combined Bacillus strains caused an 8% improvement in laying performance compared to the control ( Yang et al, 2020 ). The increased egg production rate could be due to an improvement in nutrient utilization ( Souza et al, 2021 ), which is accrued to a positive effect of probiotics on the beneficial gut microbial population ( Xu et al, 2022 ) and gut morphology ( Song et al, 2019 ). In the current study, our findings revealed that Clostridium butyricum and Brevibacillus significantly improved egg production rates.…”

“…In previous reports, probiotics including Clostridium butyricum ( Xiang et al, 2019 ; Wang W. W. et al, 2020 ; Wang Y. et al, 2021 ), Bacillus sp. ( Neijat et al, 2019 ; Yang et al, 2020 ; Pan et al, 2022 ), and combined probiotics strains ( Ray et al, 2022 ; Xu et al, 2022 ) enhanced feed efficiency in laying hens. Similarly, in this study, Clostridium butyricum improved feed utilization, and consequently, the enhanced feed efficiency was a boost to the production potential of the animal.…”

“…In previous reports, probiotics including Clostridium butyricum (Xiang et al, 2019;Wang W. W. et al, 2020;Wang Y. et al, 2021), Bacillus sp. (Neijat et al, 2019;Yang et al, 2020;Pan et al, 2022), and combined probiotics strains (Ray et al, 2022;Xu et al, 2022) improved feed utilization, and consequently, the enhanced feed efficiency was a boost to the production potential of the animal. The improvement in feed efficiency may be the capacity of probiotics to enhance gut morphology and health via increased villi height for better nutrient absorption (Wang W. W. et al, 2020;Pan et al, 2022) and the production of bacteriocins and volatile bacteriostatic substances, which can suppress pathogen invasion (Chen et al, 2007).…”

“…The underlying mechanism of probiotic actions, including the production of metabolites (short-chain organic fatty acids), immunostimulatory effects, alteration of gastrointestinal flora, and exclusive competitive binding to receptors ( Sherman et al, 2009 ; Ahasan et al, 2015 ), accounts for the myriad of its positive influence on animal production and health in the poultry industry. Probiotics have been found to enhance laying performance ( Mikulski et al, 2020 ; Macit et al, 2021 ; Xu et al, 2022 ), egg quality ( Deng et al, 2021 ; Wang J. et al, 2021 ; Ray et al, 2022 ), immune response ( Song et al, 2019 ; Deng et al, 2021 ; Pan et al, 2022 ), gut health ( Abdel-Latif et al, 2018 ; Yang et al, 2020 ), and reduced oxidative stress response ( Deng et al, 2021 ; Xu et al, 2022 ). Nevertheless, some studies reported that probiotics had no influence on egg production ( Arpášová et al, 2016 ; Shi et al, 2020 ), egg quality: albumen quality ( Souza et al, 2021 ) and eggshell quality ( Wang W. W. et al, 2020 ), and antioxidant capacity ( Forte et al, 2016 ).…”

Lactobacillus salivarius SNK-6 Activates Intestinal Mucosal Immune System by Regulating Cecal Microbial Community Structure in Laying Hens

“…Many previous studies have shown that L. salivarius can increase the body weight gain, body weight, and feed conversion ratio (FCR), while simultaneously reducing the contents of the total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein, and triglyceride in the blood [ 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 ]. Lactobacillus salivarius displays high acid and bile salt tolerance and can facilitate its colonization by producing antimicrobial peptides and bacteriocin in the intestine, hence, adjusting the intestinal microflora and modulating the immune system [ 15 , 16 ]. Additionally, L. salivarius can reduce the organ damage caused by the infection of Mycoplasma gallisepticum (MG), Campylobacter , and Escherichia coli O78 , augmenting the immune responses after infectious bursal disease virus (IBDV) vaccination, enhancing the production of specific antibodies and stimulating lymphocyte proliferation [ 8 , 17 , 18 ].…”