Reduced-Particle-Size Wheat Bran Is Efficiently Colonized by a Lactic Acid-Producing Community and Reduces Levels of Enterobacteriaceae in the Cecal Microbiota of Broilers

Abstract

In the current study we investigated whether reducing the particle size of wheat bran affects the colonizing microbial community using batch fermentations with cecal inoculum from seven different chickens. We also investigated the effect of in-feed administration of regular wheat bran (1690 μm, WB) and wheat bran with reduced particle size (280 μm, WB280) on the cecal microbial community composition of broilers. During batch fermentation, WB280 was colonized by a lactic acid producing community ( and ) and by, that contain lactic acid consuming, butyric acid producing species. The relative abundance of the decreased in the particle-associated community for both WB and WB280 compared to the control. In addition, the community attached to wheat bran was enriched in xylan degrading bacteria. When administered as a feed additive to broilers, WB280 significantly increased the richness of the cecal microbiota and the abundance of bacteria containing the butyryl-CoA:acetate CoA-transferase gene, a key gene involved in bacterial butyrate production, while decreasing abundances of family members in the ceca. Particle size reduction of wheat bran thus resulted in colonization of the bran particles by a very specific lactic acid and butyric acid producing community and can be used to steer towards beneficial microbial shifts. This can potentially increase the resilience against pathogens and increase animal performance, when the reduced particle size wheat bran is administered as feed additive to broilers.Prebiotic dietary fibres are known to improve gastrointestinal health of both humans and animals in many different ways. They can increase the bulking capacity, improve transit times and, depending on the fibre, even stimulate the growth and activity of resident beneficial bacteria. Wheat bran is a readily available byproduct of flour processing and is a highly concentrated source of (in)soluble dietary fibre. The intake of fibre rich diets has been associated with increased and decreased numbers. Here we show that applying only 1 % of a relatively simple substrate which was technically modified using relatively simple techniques, reduces the concentration of This could imply that in future intervention studies one should take the particle size of dietary fibres into account.

Meta-analysis of Diets Used inDrosophilaMicrobiome Research and Introduction of theDrosophilaDietary Composition Calculator (DDCC)

“…We also expect that use of complex diet components is beneficial for discovery of physiologically relevant phenotypes that may otherwise be lost or artificially altered on more defined diets. For example, food particle size in animal gut ecosystems is known to impact digestion and bulk passage rate as well as microbiome composition through attachment and microcolony support (Cheng et al 1981;Martz and Belyea 1986;Bjorndal et al 1990;McAllister et al 1994;Vermeulen et al 2018;Kiarie and Mills 2019). Ultimately, what is important is that researchers understand the nutritional implications of the diets they use and look to nutritional information as a resource to aid in analysis of results and comparison across laboratories.…”

Effect of in feed administration of different butyrate formulations on Salmonella Enteritidis colonization and cecal microbiota in broilers

“…The 16S rRNA sequencing was performed using MiSeq v2 technology (2 × 250 bp) from Illumina at the Geno-Toul Genomics and Transcriptomics facility (Auzeville, France). This method has been described in detail by Vermeulen et al [25].…”

Effects of Wheat Bran and Clostridium butyricum Supplementation on Cecal Microbiota, Short-Chain Fatty Acid Concentration, pH and Histomorphometry in Broiler Chickens

“…Wheat bran is a byproduct of the milling industry and contains high amounts of insoluble and soluble non-starch polysaccharides (NSPs), which cannot be digested directly by the host, and instead are degraded by hindgut microbiota. [5]. NSPs occur in the form of arabinoxylans (70%), cellulose (24%) and beta-glucans (6%) in wheat bran [6].…”