Anaerobutyricum and subdoligranulum are differentially enriched in broilers with disparate weight gains

Authors: LIU, JING - Oklahoma State University; Robinson, Kelsy; LYU, WENTAO - Oklahoma State University; YANG, QING - Oklahoma State University; WANG, JING - Oklahoma State University; CHRISTENSEN, KAREN - Tyson Foods; ZHANG, GUOLONG - Oklahoma State University

Submitted to: Animals
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 5/29/2023
Publication Date: 6/1/2023
Citation: Liu, J., Robinson, K., Lyu, W., Yang, Q., Wang, J., Christensen, K.D., Zhang, G. 2023. Anaerobutyricum and subdoligranulum are differentially enriched in broilers with disparate weight gains. Animals. 13(11). Article 13041071. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani13111834.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/ani13111834

Interpretive Summary: The intestinal microbes, known as the microbiota, play a vital role in nutrient digestion, pathogen exclusion, immune development, and ultimately, animal productivity. However, it is currently unclear how much specific microbes influence animal growth relative to the entire population. Here we profiled the cecal microbiota of broiler chickens raised under typical commercial conditions to identify bacteria linked to body weight gain. Several bacteria were found to show either a positive or negative association with body weight. These bacteria may be further explored to improve the growth performance of chickens and also as potential biomarkers for selection of broiler chickens with different growth rates.

Technical Abstract: Intestinal microbiota is critically important for animal health and productivity. However, the influence of the intestinal microbiota on animal growth efficiency remains elusive. This current study was aimed at identifying the intestinal bacteria that are associated with the growth rate of broilers in a commercial production setting. Cobb-500 broilers with extremely high, medium, and extremely low body weight (BW) were separately selected for each sex from a house of approximately 10,000 chickens on day 42. The cecal content of each animal was subjected to 16S rRNA gene sequencing followed by QIIME2 analysis with the Deblur algorithm for microbiota profiling. Our results indicated that a number of bacterial features were differentially enriched among different groups of broilers, with several showing a significant correlation (P < 0.05) with BW in both sexes or in a sex-specific manner. In males, two features were positively correlated with growth while twelve were negatively correlated. Only four significant correlations were identified in females, two positively and two negatively correlated. One Anaerobutyricum member (feature 51) was found to be positive correlated in both males and females while the opposite is true for a Subdoligranulum feature (feature 13). These bacteria could be targeted for improving the growth efficiency and may also be explored as potential biomarkers for the growth rate of broiler chickens.