"Allium hookeri leaf as a fed supplement influences gut microbiome realted to growth performance in young broiler chickens"

Authors: LEE, SUNG-HYEN - Rural Development Administration - Korea; BANG, SO-HYUN - Cho And Kim Genomics; KIM, BONG-SANG - Cho And Kim Genomics; KIM, SEUNG-HWAN - Better For Human And Nature Bio (BHNBIO); KANG, SANG-HYUN - Better For Human And Nature Bio (BHNBIO); Lillehoj, Hyun

Submitted to: Veterinary Microbiology
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 10/26/2018
Publication Date: 10/29/2018
Citation: Lee, S., Bang, S., Kim, B., Kim, S., Kang, S., Lillehoj, H.S. 2018. "Allium hookeri leaf as a fed supplement influences gut microbiome realted to growth performance in young broiler chickens". Veterinary Microbiology. https://doi.org/10.5713/ajas.18.0571.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5713/ajas.18.0571

Interpretive Summary: General well-being of livestock and poultry is affected by many factors including diets. In this report, ARS scientists collaborated with Korean scientists to investigate the effects of plant-derived phytochemicals on microorganisms living in the gut. The results showed that dietary treatment of growing poultry with Allium hookeri, a widely used healthy food to treat high blood glucose and high lipid level in patients with diabetes mellitus in Asia, provided many beneficial effects on gut health including stimulation of host immunity. Furthermore, dietary Allium hookeri, as a feed supplement for young broiler chickens reduced local inflammatory response and improved their growth performance. Underlying association with dietary Allium hookeri treatment with growth phenotype was studied using 16S rRNA sequencing of cecum samples from broiler chickens. There was a difference in microbial communities including decreased abundance of bacteria in some genera and dietary Allium hookeri effectively modulated gut microbiome which is related to growth traits such as body weight, and bone strength. These results suggest how changes in microbial communities could beneficially influence growth parameter of young broiler chickens and A. hookeri plant can be used as a new feed supplement to enhance productivity and health of broiler chicken.

Technical Abstract: Background: The importance of healthy food for gut microbiome has been highlighted as it promotes beneficial bacteria in the gut microbiome. Some prebiotics as food supplements can increase fermentation products produced by beneficial bacteria which could enhance host's immune system and health. Allium hookeri belongs to Allium, a widely known genus that contains onion (Allium cepa) and garlic (Allium sativum L.) is one of healthy foods with antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities. A. hookeri as a feed supplement for broiler chickens is known to improve their growth performance. Although how A. hookeri brings about these changes has not been clearly understood yet, it is suspected that it does so by altering the gut microbiome. Results: In the current study, 16S rRNA sequencing was performed for cecum of broiler chickens supplemented with different tissue types (leaf and root) and amounts (0.3% and 0.5%) of A. hookeri in diet to investigate their impacts on gut microbiome. Composition of microbiome in the group supplemented with A. hookeri leaf was distinguished from that in the control group. Differences in microbial communities included decreases in abundance of bacteria in some genera. The greater influence for different abundance in genera was observed in Leaf 0.5% compared to 0.3%. Also, Leaf 0.5% supplement effectively modulates gut microbiome which is related to growth traits including body weight, bone strength, and infectious bursal disease (IBD) antibody. Conclusions: These results suggest how much change of microbial communities could occur and what microorganisms are related to such changes. More importantly, A. hookeri leaf affects microbial communities to improve growth performance in young broilers. Therefore, A. hookeri leaf can be used as a new feed supplement for productivity and health of broiler chicken.