Faecal microbiome sequences in relation to the egg-laying performance of hens using amplicon-based metagenomic association analysis

Abstract

Exploring the composition and structure of the faecal microbial community improves the understanding of the role of the gut microbiota in the gastrointestinal function and the egg-laying performance of hens. Therefore, detection of hen–microbial interactions can explore a new breeding marker for the selection of egg production due to the important role of the gut microbiome in the host’s metabolism and health. Recently, the gut microbiota has been recognised as a regulator of host performance, which has led to investigations of the productive effects of changes in the faecal microbiome in various animals. In the present study, a metagenomics analysis was applied to characterise the composition and structural diversity of faecal microbial communities under two selections of egg-laying performance, high (H, n = 30) and low (L, n = 30), using 16S rRNA-based metagenomic association analysis. The most abundant bacterial compositions were estimated based on the operational classification units among samples and between the groups from metagenomic data sets. The results indicated that Firmicutes phylum has higher significant (P < 0.01) in the H group than in the L group. In addition, higher relative abundance phyla of Bacteroides and Fusobacteria were estimated in the H group than the L group, contrasting the phyla of Actinobacteria, Cyanobacteria and Proteobacteria were more relative abundance in the L group. The families (Lactobacillus, Bifidobacterium, Acinetobacter, Flavobacteriaceae, Lachnoclostridum and Rhodococcus) were more abundant in the H group based on the comparison between the H and L groups. Meanwhile, three types of phyla (Proteobacteria, Actinobacteria and Cyanobacteria) and six families (Acinetobacter, Avibacterium, Clostridium, Corynebacterium, Helicobacter and Peptoclostridium) were more abundant in the L group (P < 0.01). Overall, the selection of genotypes has enriched a relationship between the gut microbiota and the egg-laying performance. These findings suggest that the faecal microbiomes of chickens with high egg-laying performance have more diverse activities than those of chickens with low egg-laying performance, which may be related to the metabolism and health of the host and egg production variation.

Effects of Rearing Conditions and Sex on Cecal Microbiota in Ducks

“…This represents the first report by our team of a relative abundance of Fusobacteria > 1% ( Zhu et al, 2020a , b ). Fusobacteria were detected in Partridge Shank chickens under free-range breeding conditions, but not in chickens fed in cages ( Sun et al, 2018 ), while Elokil et al reported an abundance of about 0.011%–0.060% for Fusobacteria sequenced in laying chickens housed in individual cages inside an enclosed farm ( Elokil et al, 2020 ). These results suggest that Fusobacteria may be a normal component of the intestinal microbiota, even though some studies failed to detect its relative abundance.…”

Selenium yeast modulated ileal transcriptome and microbiota to ameliorate egg production in aged laying hens

“…For instance, the abundance of Lactobacillus, Bi dobacterium, Acinetobacter, Flavobacteriaceae, Lachnoclostridum and Rhodococcus was higher in the High egg-laying performance group in comparison with Low egg-laying performance group [9]. A 0.6% Lactobacillus supplement in the diet increased the egg production of feeding laying hens [9]. Therefore, the laying rate was signi cantly higher in the SY0.30 group than in the SS0.45 group, which may be due to the abundance Lactobacillus in the ileum.…”

“…It has been estimated that there is a signi cant positive correlation between the abundance of Lactobacillus and the laying rate, which is consistent with other results. For instance, the abundance of Lactobacillus, Bi dobacterium, Acinetobacter, Flavobacteriaceae, Lachnoclostridum and Rhodococcus was higher in the High egg-laying performance group in comparison with Low egg-laying performance group [9]. A 0.6% Lactobacillus supplement in the diet increased the egg production of feeding laying hens [9].…”

“…However, the candidate factors affecting gut microbiota diversity vary with genotype, feed quality, and age [9]. Additionally, the pattern of host-microbe interactions drives the genetic and phenotypic diversities of gut microbiota to affect the physiological, immunological, and nutritional status of the host [10].…”

Influence of the digestive/reproductive tract microbiota on chicken egg production beyond host genetics

“…More recently, a metagenomic association study showed that the gut microbial communities of chickens with high egg production performance differ significantly from those of chickens with low egg production performance [28].…”