Editorial: Functional mechanisms at the avian gut microbiome-intestinal immunity interface and its regulation of avian physiological responses

Authors: Kogut, Michael - Mike; FERNANDEZ-MIYAKAWA, MARIANO ENRIQUE - National Institute Of Agricultural Technology(INTA)

Submitted to: Frontiers in Physiology
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 10/12/2022
Publication Date: 10/24/2022
Citation: Kogut, M.H., Fernandez-Miyakawa, M. 2022. Editorial: Functional mechanisms at the avian gut microbiome-intestinal immunity interface and its regulation of avian physiological responses. Frontiers in Physiology. 13. Article 1063102. https://doi.org/10.3389/fphys.2022.1063102.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/fphys.2022.1063102

Interpretive Summary: The development of the immune response in chicks is controlled by the millions of bacteria in the animal's gut. What has been found over the last 20 years is that bacteria that do not cause disease but normally grow in the gut can work together to make the baby animal's immune system work better and prevent the bad germs from growing. This paper shows that the food that chicks eat can alter the growth of specific bacteria in the gut. These bacteria are then able to control the chick's local immune environment in the gut. Thus, changing the nutrients in the diet of the chick can be an efficient and natural (drug-free) way to increase the efficiency of the chick's immune system, so that it may be able to better fight off disease-causing germs such as Salmonella. This paper will be beneficial to chicken growers, microbiologists, and nutritionists in helping make better animal feeds that encourage the growth of normal bacteria in the gut and help the development of a healthy immune system.

Technical Abstract: Our understanding of the interface between the gut microbiome and avian host immunity is almost exclusively based on descriptive, associative studies which have not established causality. Clearly, the need to elucidate the causal relationships and the molecular mechanisms by which the gut microbiome influences the avian host immune system, both locally and systemically, is fundamental for the translational success of intestinal microbiota-based diagnostics, therapeutics, and adjunct therapies for avian immune development and function that impacts the poultry industry worldwide. The intestinal microbiome:innate immune interactome is a signaling hub that integrates environmental inputs of poultry, especially diet, with genetic and immune signals to translate the signals into host physiological responses and the regulation of microbial ecology. Based on mammalian studies, this network of interactions characterizes the interdependence between the innate immune system and the microbiota with the two systems affecting one another to orchestrate local intestinal and whole-organism physiology. As the basic tools for characterizing microbiomes are now widely accessible, the future of poultry (chickens, turkeys, ducks, geese) microbiome research is to broaden the vision and approach to enhance the understanding of functional mechanisms at the avian microbiome:immunity interface and its regulation of avian physiological responses. Thus, microbiome studies in poultry are at a challenging transition from descriptive studies of association towards mechanistic studies. Essential for this transition is a diversity of thinking (chemical and systems biology, metabolism, microbiology, physiology, and immunology) and the development of novel approaches (assays and models).