Informal nutrition symposium: Leveraging the microbiome (and the metabolome) for poultry production

Authors: LYTE, MARK - Iowa State University; Lyte, Joshua - Josh

Submitted to: Poultry Science
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 11/2/2021
Publication Date: 2/1/2022
Citation: Lyte, M., Lyte, J.M. 2022. Informal Nutrition Symposium: Leveraging the microbiome (and the metabolome) for poultry production. Poultry Science. 101(2). Article 101588. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psj.2021.101588.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psj.2021.101588

Interpretive Summary: Signaling molecules called neurochemicals that are used in the nervous and endocrine systems of animals are also produced and recognized by microbial organisms such as bacteria. This allows neurochemicals to serve as a bi-directional 'language' by which the animal is able, at a molecular level, to communicate and interact with bacteria and vice versa. The field of study that investigates neurochemical-based host (i,e. the animal such as a chicken)-microbe crosstalk is called Microbial Endocrinology, The collection of bacteria in the gut is called the microbiota and the gut is rich in nervous and endocrine physiology. Therefore, the gut is a major site where Microbial Endocrinology may be applied to solve scientific problems of interest. As the gut is a major area of interest in poultry research as gut health and immunity, foodborne pathogen colonization, and the microbiota, the application of microbial endocrinology holds significant potential to increase bird welfare and health, as well as reduce the presence of bacteria in the chicken gut that cause foodborne illness in people. While Microbial Endocrinology has been successfully applied to benefit human clinical medicine, it stands as an underutilized approach in poultry research. This manuscript, which is part of the annual Poultry Science Association 2021 meeting examines the potential of Microbial Endocrinology in poultry research. This manuscript puts forward important and novel perspectives on how microbial endocrinology may provide poultry researchers and industry a novel framework by which to harness host-microbe interaction to benefit poultry.

Technical Abstract: Microbial endocrinology represents the intersection of two fields, microbiology and neurobiology, that have not been traditionally considered as having any relation to each other nor any importance as regards poultry health and behavior. This intersection of two seemingly disparate fields, microbiology and neurobiology, is based on the possession by both of structurally identical neurochemicals that ultimately results in a common evolutionary language permitting cross-talk between the two. In this brief review, we describe why an understanding of the role of microbial endocrinology in poultry production can lead to new understanding of the mechanisms by which the gut microbiota and the host can interact in defined mechanisms that ultimately determine health, pathogenesis of infectious disease and behavior. Further, we will discuss how nutrition plays a critical role in microbial endocrinology and can lead to the development of new nutritional strategies.