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ARS Home » Plains Area » College Station, Texas » Southern Plains Agricultural Research Center » Food and Feed Safety Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #312919
Title: Molecular analysis of the caecal and tracheal microbiome from heat-stressed broilers supplemented with prebiotic and probiotic

Author
item SOHAIL, MOHAMMAD - Government College University
item Hume, Michael
item Byrd Ii, James - Allen
item Nisbet, David
item SHABBIR, M. - University Of Veterinary And Animal Sciences
item IJAZ, AHMAD - University Of Agriculture - Pakistan
item REHMAN, HABIB - University Of Veterinary And Animal Sciences

Submitted to: Avian Pathology
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 12/8/2014
Publication Date: 3/9/2015
Publication URL: http://handle.nal.usda.gov/10113/61626
Citation: Sohail, M.U., Hume, M.E., Byrd II, J.A., Nisbet, D.J., Shabbir, M.Z., Ijaz, A., Rehman, H. 2015. Molecular analysis of the caecal and tracheal microbiome from heat-stressed broilers supplemented with prebiotic and probiotic. Avian Pathology. 44:67-74.

Interpretive Summary: Intestinal bacteria are important for host nutrition, health, and immunity, however, little information is available regarding the role of these bacteria in lung tissue, such as the trachea, exposed to the outside. The present study was aimed at elucidating effects of feed supplementations with a complex sugar (MOS) and a probiotic mixture (PM) on intestinal and tracheal bacteria of broilers kept under chronic high temperature heat stress conditions. Day-old chicks were divided into five treatment groups: Normal temperature control, heat stress control, heat stress plus MOS, heat stress plus PM, and heat stress chicks fed MOS and PM). Intestinal contents and tracheal swabs were collected when chicks were 42 days of age and DNA was extracted. Two molecular techniques, denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) and pyrosequencing, were performed to analyze bacterial content: DGGE does not identify bacteria, while pyrosequencing can identify bacteria to the level of species. Denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis revealed no differences between treatment groups, but revealed distinct differences between intestinal and tracheal samples. Pyrosequencing revealed 11 phyla, 19 classes, 34 orders, 85 families, and 195 genera of bacteria. Genera Lactobacillus, Faecalibacterium, Clostridium, and Ruminococcus predominantly occupied broiler ceca. In comparison, trachea predominantly harbored Lactobacillus, Corynebacterium, and Staphylococcus genera. In conclusion, the broiler intestine harbors a diverse and dynamic bacterial community, which is different from the respiratory tract community. Pyrosequencing is more sensitive discriminatory of microbial ecology compare with DGGE. The information is of interest to researchers seeking to reduce the effects of heat stress in broiler production.

Technical Abstract: Gastrointestinal tract (GIT) commensal microbiota is important for host nutrition, health, and immunity, however, little information is available regarding the role of these commensals at other mucosal surfaces of the body. The present study is aimed at elucidating effects of feed supplementations with mannan-oligosaccharides (MOS) prebiotic and a probiotic mixture (PM) on cecal and tracheal microbiota of broilers kept under chronic heat stress (HS; 35±2°C) conditions. Four hundred and fifty d-old chicks were randomly divided into five treatment groups: Thermoneutral (TN-CONT), heat stress control (HS-CONT), heat stress plus MOS (HS-MOS), heatstress plus PM (HS-PM), and heat stress synbiotic (HS-SYN; fed MOS and PM). Cecal digesta and tracheal swabs were collected at d-42 and subjected to DNA-extraction. Denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) and pyrosequencing was performed. Denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis dendrograms revealed no differences between treatment groups. An unweighted UniFrac distance metric revealed a distinct clustering pattern between cecal and tracheal samples. Pyrosequencing revealed 11 phyla, 19 classes, 34 orders, 85 families, and 195 genera. Genera Lactobacillus, Faecalibacterium, Clostridium, and Ruminococcus predominantly occupied broiler ceca. In comparison, trachea predominantly harbored Lactobacillus, Corynebacterium, and Staphylococcus genera. In conclusion, the broiler GIT harbors a diverse and dynamic microbial community, which is different from the respiratory tract microbiome. Pyrosequencing is more discriminatory of microbial ecology compared with DGGE.