Gut microbiota shift in layer pullets fed on black soldier fly larvae-based feeds towards enhancing healthy gut microbial community

Abstract

Globally, most gut microbiota-related studies have focused on broilers due to their diverse microbial communities compared to that of layer chicken. However, in Africa few studies have been undertaken despite the increasing benefits to the poultry industry. The utilization of Insect-Based diets to improve the gastrointestinal function and gut health in poultry is increasingly gaining global attention. Here, we evaluated the potential roles of commercial black soldier fly larvae-based feeds (BSFLF) in reshaping the abundance, composition and diversity of the gut microbiota of layer chickens using high throughput Oxford nanopore Minion sequencing of the full length bacterial 16S rRNA gene. Two hundred and fifty ISA Brown layer chicks were reared in pens for a period of 20 weeks. The layer pullets were allotted 5 dietary treatments that were formulated as follows: control diet (T1): 100% FM + 0% BSFL, T2: 25% BSFL + 75% FM; T3: 50% BSFL + 50% FM; T4: 75% BSFL + 25% FM, and T5: 100% BSFL + 0% FM. Sampling was done from the eight major regions including oesophagus, crop, proventriculus, gizzard, duodenum, ileum, large intestines and ceca. Out of the 400,064 classified reads analyzed, the most dominant phyla identified across the feed treatments were Firmicutes, Bacteroidetes, Proteobacteria and Actinobacteria. The diet treatment with 100% inclusion levels of BSFL showed the highest intra-species alpha diversity and richness according to Chao1 and Shannon index. Intra-species beta diversity assessment revealed that the diet types significantly influenced the abundance of the microbiota, but differences between most abundant taxa were similar. There was increase in abundance of potentially beneficial bacteria (Lactobacillus, Bacteroides and Enterococcus) with increased inclusion levels of BSFLF in layer pullets diets. Across the different gut segments, Lactobacillus dominated all the eight regions and the ceca was the most diverse segment. Our findings unravel complex gut microbial shift in laying hen fed BSFLF and therefore underpins the potential roles of beneficial bacteria as promising prebiotics and probiotics in reshaping of the gut microbiota to maintain good gut health.

Long-Term Dietary Fish Meal Substitution with the Black Soldier Fly Larval Meal Modifies the Caecal Microbiota and Microbial Pathway in Laying Hens

“…Since diets incorporating BSFL meals have been shown to modify pathways associated with bile acid metabolism, it could conceivably be hypothesized that such a diet may benefit enterocyte lipid digestion and gut physiology. These benefits are in accordance with previous studies showing that a BSFL diet can broadly improve gut health in chickens and fish [15,44]; however, a few attempts have been made to elucidate the relation between the profiles of microbial metabolites and gut physiology. Therefore, the interactions among microbial metabolites, enterocyte metabolism, and gut homeostasis should be investigated for an in-depth understanding of the dietary benefits of BSFL meals.…”

“…Additionally, feeding with a low level of BSFL (10%) to layers leads to an increase in caecal microbial diversities [ 14 ]. Ndotono et al conclude a similar finding that the gut microbial diversity of laying hens fed with BSFL meal as a complete replacement of fishmeal (10%) is higher than that of laying hens fed with control diets [ 15 ]. Furthermore, Biasato et al indicated that a 5% level of BSFL meal inclusion is more beneficial to the gut health of broilers than the addition of 10% and 15% BSFL meal in terms of changes in gut microorganisms and intestinal mucin production [ 16 ].…”

Dynamic effects of black soldier fly larvae meal on the cecal bacterial microbiota and prevalence of selected antimicrobial resistant determinants in broiler chickens

“…In agreement with our observations associated with diets containing high amounts of BSFLM on the cecal bacterial diversity of male broiler chickens, similar studies examining the effect of complete replacement of SBM or fish meal with BSFLM in Lohmann Brown Classic laying hen [ 21 ] and ISA brown layer chick [ 34 ] diets, have also reported increased in bacterial richness and Shannon’s diversity index, together with significant changes in beta diversity of gut bacterial communities [ 34 ]. In contrast, for diets with low BSFLM content, Biasato et al showed that replacement of SBM with 15% BSFLM (but not 5% and 10%) was associated with a reduction in Shannon’s diversity in the cecal microbiota of 35-day-old broiler chickens [ 35 ].…”

Microbiome Changes in Layer Pullets Reared in Floor Pens along the Growth Period

“…In our study, Lactobacillus (12.17−67.01%) constituted one of the predominant genera in the ileum across different age groups. Ndotono et al [37] and Ngunjiri et al [23] found that Lactobacillus species belonging to the family Lactobacillaceae were the predominant bacteria in the chicken ileum in their respective studies. This bacterial family comprises beneficial commensals that have been extensively studied in both the human and animal food and medical industries [18].…”