scholarly journals Yellow Mealworm Inclusion in Diets for Heavy-Size Broiler Chickens: Implications for Intestinal Microbiota and Mucin Dynamics

Animals ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (10) ◽  
pp. 1909
Author(s):  
Ilaria Biasato ◽  
Ilario Ferrocino ◽  
Elena Grego ◽  
Sihem Dabbou ◽  
Francesco Gai ◽  
...  

In the present trial, 160 heavy-size male broiler chickens were allocated to 4 dietary treatments (control feed [C] and 5, 10 and 15% TM meal inclusion, respectively, with 5 replicate pens/treatment and 8 birds/pen) to evaluate the influence of TM meal on intestinal microbiota and mucin composition. The broiler chickens fed TM-based diets showed higher beta diversity of their cecal microbiota in comparison with the C birds (p < 0.001). A significant decrease of the relative abundance of Firmicutes phylum and lower Firmicutes:Bacteroidetes ratios (False Discovery Rate [FDR] < 0.05) were also identified in TM15 broiler chickens when compared to the C group. Furthermore, the TM birds showed decreased relative abundance of Clostridium, Coprococcus, L-Ruminococcus and Ruminococcus genera (FDR < 0.05). In relation to the gut mucin composition, higher mucin staining intensity was detected in the intestinal crypts of TM5 birds in comparison with the other TM groups (p < 0.05). In conclusion, dietary TM meal inclusion negatively influenced the cecal microbiota of heavy-size broiler chickens in terms of partial alteration of the physiological microbial population and reduction of the potential beneficial bacteria (with slightly more pronounced effects when testing the 10–15% inclusion levels).

Animals ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (5) ◽  
pp. 213 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ilaria Biasato ◽  
Ilario Ferrocino ◽  
Elena Grego ◽  
Sihem Dabbou ◽  
Francesco Gai ◽  
...  

A total of 160 female broiler chickens were divided into four dietary treatments (control feed [C] and 5, 10 and 15% TM meal inclusion, respectively, with five replicate pens/treatment and eight birds/pen) to investigate the effects of Tenebrio molitor (TM) meal utilization on poultry gut microbiota and mucin composition. The cecal microbiota assessment displayed a shift in the beta diversity in chickens fed TM-based diets. The TM10 and TM15 birds showed a significant decrease in the relative abundance of Firmicutes phylum and lower Firmicutes:Bacteroidetes ratios (False Discovery Rate [FDR] < 0.05), respectively, than the TM5 group. The relative abundance of Clostridium, Alistipes and Sutterella genera significantly increased in TM chickens (FDR < 0.05), while birds fed TM-based diets displayed a significant decrease in the relative abundance of Ruminococcus genus in comparison with the C group (FDR < 0.05). Gut mucin composition evaluation revealed higher mucin staining intensity in the intestinal villi of TM5 birds than the other TM groups, as well as mucin reduction in the intestinal villi of TM10 birds when compared to the C group (p < 0.05). In conclusion, dietary TM meal utilization (especially the 10–15% inclusion levels) may negatively influence either the cecal microbiota or the intestinal mucin dynamics of broiler chickens.


Animals ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (10) ◽  
pp. 2819
Author(s):  
Elena Colombino ◽  
Ilaria Biasato ◽  
Ilario Ferrocino ◽  
Sara Bellezza Oddon ◽  
Christian Caimi ◽  
...  

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of Hermetia illucens (HI) and Tenebrio molitor (TM) live larvae as environmental enrichment on the mucin composition, local immune response and microbiota of broilers. A total of 180 four-day-old male broiler chickens (Ross 308) were randomly allotted to three dietary treatments (six replicates/treatment; ten animals/replicate): (i) control (C); (ii) C+HI; (iii) C+TM. Live larvae were distributed based on 5% of the expected daily feed intake. At slaughter (39 days of age), samples of duodenum, jejunum and ileum (twelve animals/diet) were submitted to mucin histochemical evaluation. Expression of MUC-2 and cytokines was evaluated by rt-qPCR in jejunum. Mucin staining intensity was not influenced by diet (p > 0.05); however, this varied depending on the intestinal segment (p < 0.001). No significant differences were recorded for IL-4, IL-6 TNF-α, MUC-2 and INF-γ gene expression in jejunum, while IL-2 was lower in the TM group compared to HI and C (p = 0.044). Caecal microbiota showed higher abundance of Clostridium, Saccharibacteria and Victivallaceae in the HI group, while Collinsella was higher in the TM group. The results suggested that live insect larvae did not impair mucin composition or local immune response, and can slightly improve caecal microbiota by enhancing a minor fraction of short chain fatty acid-producing taxa.


1970 ◽  
Vol 1 ◽  
pp. 269
Author(s):  
Phyo Htet Htet Kyaw, Kyaw San Win, Khin Khin Lay ◽  
Kyaw Kyaw Moe ◽  
Aye Aye Maw, Khin Hnin Swe

A total of 200 Cobb 500 male broilers were randomly allocated to 4 treatments consisting of 5 replications with 10 chicks each in order to evaluate the effect of dietary garlic and thyme seed supplementation on the production performance, carcass yield and gut microbial population. Treatments were control diet (T1), control diet with 1% thyme seed powder (T2), control diet with 1% garlic powder (T3) and control diet with 0.5% thyme seed and 0.5% garlic powder (T4). Feed intake, body weight, weight gain, feed conversion ratio (FCR), carcass yield was not significantly (p>0.05) improved by dietary treatments compared to control. Escherichia coli (E. coli) count in the gut of broilers did not show significant difference among dietary treatments. However, Lactobacilli count in the gut of broilers significantly (p<0.05) increased in T2 compared to that of T1. Lactobacilli count in the gut of broilers received T1, T3 and T4 did not differ significantly (p>0.05) with each other. It was concluded that thyme seed was reliable as feed additive in the broiler diet and could provide positive advantages to the colonization and proliferation of Lactobacilli.


2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (9) ◽  
pp. 187
Author(s):  
Nikoletta Such ◽  
Valéria Farkas ◽  
Gábor Csitári ◽  
László Pál ◽  
Aliz Márton ◽  
...  

In this research, the effects of early post-hatch inoculation of a competitive exclusion product (Br) and the continuous feeding of a synbiotic supplement (Sy) containing probiotic bacteria, yeast, and inulin on the production traits and composition of ileal chymus (IC), ileal mucosa (IM), and caecal chymus (CC) microbiota of broiler chickens were evaluated. The dietary treatments had no significant effects on the pattern of intestinal microbiota or production traits. The digestive tract bacteriota composition was affected mostly by the sampling place and age of birds. The dominant family of IC was Lactobacillaceae, without change with the age. The abundance of the two other major families, Enterococcaceae and Lachnospiraceae decreased with the age of birds. In the IM, Clostridiaceae was the main family in the first three weeks. Its ratio decreased later and Lactobacillaceae became the dominant family. In the CC, Ruminococcaceae and Lachnospiraceae were the main families with decreasing tendency in the age. In IC, Br treatment decreased the abundance of genus Lactobacillus, and both Br and Sy increased the ratio of Enterococcus at day 7. In all gut segments, a negative correlation was found between the IBD antibody titer levels and the ratio of genus Leuconostoc in the first three weeks, and a positive correlation was found in the case of Bifidobacterium, Rombutsia, and Turicibacter between day 21 and 40.


Animals ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (8) ◽  
pp. 1429
Author(s):  
Deborah Adewole

The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of dietary supplementation with coarse or extruded oat hulls on growth performance, blood biochemistry, cecal microbiota, and short chain fatty acids (SCFA) in broiler chickens. Chickens were randomly allotted to four dietary treatments consisting of a corn-wheat-soybean meal-based diet (Basal), Basal + Bacitracin methylenedisalicylate (BMD), Basal +3% coarse OH (COH), and basal +3% extruded OH (EOH). Feed intake (FI), body weight gain (BWG), and feed conversion ratio (FCR) were recorded weekly. On day 36, eight chickens/treatment were euthanized, blood samples were collected, and organ weights were determined. Cecal digesta samples were collected for the determination of SCFA concentration and microbial DNA sequence. Data were subjected to ANOVA using the mixed procedure of SAS. Alpha diversity was estimated with the Shannon index, and the significance of diversity differences was tested with ANOVA. Birds fed COH and EOH had reduced (p < 0.05) BWG, but there was no effect of treatment on FCR. There was a significant increase (p = 0.0050) in relative gizzard empty weight among birds that were fed COH, compared to the other treatments. Dietary treatments had no effect on blood biochemical parameters and SCFA concentration. Cecal microbial composition of chickens was mostly comprised of Firmicutes and Tenericutes. Seven OTUs that were differentially abundant among treatments were identified. In conclusion, supplementation of broiler chickens’ diets with 3% COH or EOH did not affect the FCR, blood biochemical parameters and SCFA concentration, but modified few cecal microbiota at the species level. Dietary supplementation with COH but not EOH significantly increased the relative gizzard weight.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Santi Devi Upadhaya ◽  
Je Min Ahn ◽  
Jae Hyoung Cho ◽  
Hyeun Bum Kim ◽  
Jin Young Kim ◽  
...  

Abstract Background: Effective antibiotic alternatives are the urgent need of poultry industry to control disease outbreaks. Phage therapy mainly utilizes lytic phages to kill their respective bacterial hosts and can be attractive solution to combating the emergence of antibiotic resistance in livestock. Methods: Five hundred and four one-day--old broilers (Ross 308) were allotted into 1 of 4 treatment groups according to a completely randomized design. Dietary treatments consisted of CON (basal diet), PC (CON + 0.025% Avilamax®(antibiotics), TR1 (CON + 0.05% bacteriophage), and TR2 (CON + 0.10 % bacteriophage) groups. Results: A significant linear effect on body weight gain (BWG) was observed during day 1-7, day 22-35, and overall experiment in bacteriophage (BP) supplemented groups. The BWG tended to be higher (P = 0.08) and the feed intake (FI) was increased (P = 0.017) in birds fed PC than CON diets. A greater (P = 0.016) BWG and trends in increased FI (P = 0.06) were observed during the overall experiment period in birds fed PC than CON diet. A trend in linear (P = 0.0833) increment in excreta Lactobacillus counts was observed in birds fed graded level of BP supplemented diets. At the genus level, the relative abundance of Lactobacillus was decreased in PC (65.28%), while it was similar in TR1, 2, (90.65%, 86.72%, 81.44%) compared to CON (90.19%). At the species level, relative abundance of Lactobacillus salivarus was higher in TR1 (40.15%) and TR2 (38.58%) compared with CON (20.04%) and PC (18.05%). A linear reduction in the weight of Bursa of Fabricus (P = 0.022) and spleen (P = 0.052) was seen in birds fed increasing level of BP diets and a trend in increment (P = 0.059) in the weight of gizzard was observed in birds fed PC than BP diets. Linear and quadratic responses were observed in redness of breast muscle color in birds fed graded level of BP. Conclusions:The increase in dietary BP supplementation linearly increased BWG, Lactobacillus counts and enhanced beneficial microbiota in the gut, and 0.05% BP addition was sufficient for supporting immune organs, bursa and spleen.


Animals ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (12) ◽  
pp. 2230
Author(s):  
Andor Molnár ◽  
Nikoletta Such ◽  
Valéria Farkas ◽  
László Pál ◽  
László Menyhárt ◽  
...  

Feed additives that can improve intestinal health and maintain a diverse and resilient intestinal microbiota of poultry are of great importance. Thus, the current study investigated the effects of a single strain butyric acid-producing Clostridium (C. butyricum) with (symbiotic) or without wheat bran supplementation on cecal microbiota composition and gut health characteristics of broiler chickens. In total, 384 male Ross 308 day-old chickens were divided into four dietary treatment groups and fed ad libitum until day 37 of life. Cecal samples were taken for Illumina sequencing and pH and short-chain fatty acid analyses, as well as for histological analysis at the end of the experimental period. Neither of the supplemented diets improved chicken growth performance. Caecum was dominated by the members of Bacteroidetes phyla followed by Firmicutes in each dietary group. At the genus level, Bacteroides, Oscillospira, Akkermansia, Faecalibacterium, Ruminococcus and Streptococcus genera exceeded 1% relative abundance. Dietary treatment influenced the relative abundance of the Akkermansia genus, which had a lower relative abundance in the C. butyricum group than in the other groups and in the symbiotic group compared to the wheat bran supplemented group. Dietary treatment also altered cecal crypt depth and had a trend to modify the cecal fermentation profile. Additive effects of wheat bran and C. butyricum supplementation were not detected. Our results suggest that Akkermansia muciniphila colonization in chicken can be influenced by diet composition.


2017 ◽  
Vol 1 ◽  
pp. 269
Author(s):  
Phyo Htet Htet Kyaw ◽  
Kyaw San Win ◽  
Khin Khin Lay ◽  
Kyaw Kyaw Moe ◽  
Aye Aye Maw ◽  
...  

Abstract This experiment was conducted to evaluate the effect of dietary garlic and thyme seed supplementation on the production performance, carcass yield and gut microbial population of broiler chickens. A total of 200 Cobb 500 male broilers were randomly allocated to 4 treatments consisting of 5 replications with 10 chicks each. Treatments were control diet (T1), control diet with 1% thyme seed powder (T2), control diet with 1% garlic powder (T3) and control diet with 0.5% thyme seed and 0.5% garlic powder (T4). Feed intake, body weight, weight gain, feed conversion ratio (FCR), carcass yield were not significantly (p>0.05) improved by dietary treatments compared to control. Escherichia coli (E. coli) count in the gut of broilers did not show significant difference among dietary treatments. However, lactobacilli count in the gut of broilers significantly (p<0.05) increased in T2 compared to that of T1. Lactobacilli count in the gut of broilers received T1, T3 and T4 did not differ significantly (p>0.05) with each other. It was concluded that thyme seed was reliable as feed additive in the broiler diet and could provide positive advantages to the colonization and proliferation of lactobacilli.


2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (9) ◽  
pp. 1899
Author(s):  
Muhammad Bilal ◽  
Caroline Achard ◽  
Florence Barbe ◽  
Eric Chevaux ◽  
Jennifer Ronholm ◽  
...  

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.


Author(s):  
Jingfei Zhang ◽  
Yuxiang Yang ◽  
Hongli Han ◽  
Lili Zhang ◽  
Tian Wang

Abstract Bisdemethoxycurcumin has good antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects and has been widely used as food and feed supplements in the form of curcuminoids. However, the beneficial effect of individual bisdemethoxycurcumin on preventing lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced inflamed intestinal damage is unclear. The present study aimed to investigate whether dietary bisdemethoxycurcumin supplementation could attenuate LPS-induced intestinal damage and alteration of cecal microbiota in broiler chickens. In total, 320 one-day-old male Arbor Acres broiler chickens with a similar weight were randomly divided in four treatments. The treatments were designed as a 2 × 2 factorial arrangement: basal diet (CON); 150 mg/kg bisdemethoxycurcumin diet (BUR); LPS challenge + basal diet (LPS); LPS challenge + 150 mg/kg bisdemethoxycurcumin diet (L-BUR). Results showed that dietary bisdemethoxycurcumin supplementation attenuated the LPS-induced decrease of average daily feed intake. LPS challenge compromised the intestinal morphology and disrupted the intestinal tight junction barrier. Dietary bisdemethoxycurcumin supplementation significantly increased villus length:crypt depth ratio and up-regulated the mRNA expression of intestinal tight junction proteins. Moreover, a remarkably reduced mRNA expression of inflammatory mediators was observed following bisdemethoxycurcumin supplementation. The cecal microbiota analysis showed that bisdemethoxycurcumin supplementation increased the relative abundance of the genus Faecalibacterium while decreased the relative abundance of the genera Bacteroides and Subdoligranulum. In conclusion, dietary bisdemethoxycurcumin supplementation could counteract LPS-induced inflamed intestinal damage in broiler chickens by improving intestinal morphology, maintaining intestinal tight junction, down-regulating pro-inflammatory mediators, and restoring cecal microbiota.


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