Community-level physiological profiling for microbial community function in broiler cecae

Authors: Yeh, Hung-Yueh; Line, John; Hinton Jr, Arthur

Submitted to: Current Microbiology
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 11/19/2018
Publication Date: 1/1/2019
Citation: Yeh, H., Line, J.E., Hinton Jr, A. 2019. Community-level physiological profiling for microbial community function in broiler cecae. Current Microbiology. 76:173-177.

Interpretive Summary: Poultry production is an important agricultural output worldwide. It is known that the gut health of broilers is essential for their growth and for providing wholesome products for human consumption. Previously, the microbial diversity of broiler ceca was studied at the genetic level. However, the functional diversity and metabolic activity of broiler cecal bacterial communities are not fully investigated. Recently, the EcoPlates™ from Biolog, Inc. have been used for characterizing bacterial communities from various environments. In this communication, we applied these plates to physiologically profile cecal bacterial communities in broilers. The ceca were aseptically excised from six-week-old broilers, and their contents were suspended in phosphate buffered saline. The cultures in the EcoPlates were incubated at 42 oC for five days in an OmniLog system. Responses of the bacterial communities to the various substrates were measured on formazin production. The results show the sigmoidal growth curves with three phases were observed in all 12 cecal samples. Cecal bacterial communities could not use 11 carbon substrates for carbon sources, while they used pyruvic acid methyl ester, glycogen, glucose-1-phosphate and N-acetyl-D-glucosamine the most. Each bacterial community metabolized various numbers of the substrates at different rates among broilers. In the future, modification of the culture conditions mimic to the gut environment is needed. More investigations on the effects of nutrients, Salmonella or Campylobacter on physiological functions of cecal bacterial communities will provide insights into the improvement of animal well-being, saving production expenditure for producers and providing safer poultry products for human consumption.

Technical Abstract: Poultry production is one of major agricultural output worldwide. It is known that the gut health of broilers is essential for their growth and for providing wholesome products for human consumption. Previously, the microbial diversity of broiler ceca was studied at the genetic level. However, the functional diversity and metabolic activity of broiler cecal bacterial communities are not fully investigated. Recently, the EcoPlates™ from Biolog, Inc. have been used for characterizing bacterial communities from various environments. In this communication, we applied these plates to physiologically profile cecal bacterial communities in broilers. The ceca were aseptically excised from six-week-old broilers, and their contents were suspended in phosphate buffered saline. The cultures in the EcoPlates were incubated at 42 oC for five days in an OmniLog system. Responses of the bacterial communities to the various substrates were measured on formazin production. The results show the sigmoidal growth curves with three phases were observed in all 12 cecal samples. Cecal bacterial communities could not use 11 carbon substrates for carbon sources, while they used pyruvic acid methyl ester, glycogen, glucose-1-phosphate and N-acetyl-D-glucosamine the most. Each bacterial community metabolized various numbers of the substrates at different rates among broilers. In the future, modification of the culture conditions mimic to the gut environment is needed. More investigations on the effects of nutrients, Salmonella or Campylobacter on physiological functions of cecal bacterial communities will provide insights into the improvement of animal well-being, saving production expenditure for producers and providing safer poultry products for human consumption.