The Chicken Gut Metagenome and the Modulatory Effects of Plant-derived Benzylisoquinoline Alkaloids

Overview

Journal Microbiome

Publisher Biomed Central

Specialties Genetics
Microbiology

Date 2018 Nov 29

PMID 30482240

Citations 147

Authors

Peng Huang

Yan Zhang

Kangpeng Xiao

Fan Jiang

Hengchao Wang

Dazhi Tang

Dan Liu

Bo Liu

Yisong Liu

Xi He

Hua Liu

Xiubin Liu

Zhixing Qing

Conghui Liu

Jialu Huang

Yuwei Ren

Long Yun

Lijuan Yin

Qian Lin

Cheng Zeng

Xiaogang Su

Jingyang Yuan

Li Lin

Nanxi Hu

Hualiang Cao

Sanwen Huang

Yuming Guo

Wei Fan

Jianguo Zeng

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Background: Sub-therapeutic antibiotics are widely used as growth promoters in the poultry industry; however, the resulting antibiotic resistance threatens public health. A plant-derived growth promoter, Macleaya cordata extract (MCE), with effective ingredients of benzylisoquinoline alkaloids, is a potential alternative to antibiotic growth promoters. Altered intestinal microbiota play important roles in growth promotion, but the underlying mechanism remains unknown.

Results: We generated 1.64 terabases of metagenomic data from 495 chicken intestinal digesta samples and constructed a comprehensive chicken gut microbial gene catalog (9.04 million genes), which is also the first gene catalog of an animal's gut microbiome that covers all intestinal compartments. Then, we identified the distinctive characteristics and temporal changes in the foregut and hindgut microbiota. Next, we assessed the impact of MCE on chickens and gut microbiota. Chickens fed with MCE had improved growth performance, and major microbial changes were confined to the foregut, with the predominant role of Lactobacillus being enhanced, and the amino acids, vitamins, and secondary bile acids biosynthesis pathways being upregulated, but lacked the accumulation of antibiotic-resistance genes. In comparison, treatment with chlortetracycline similarly enriched some biosynthesis pathways of nutrients in the foregut microbiota, but elicited an increase in antibiotic-producing bacteria and antibiotic-resistance genes.

Conclusion: The reference gene catalog of the chicken gut microbiome is an important supplement to animal gut metagenomes. Metagenomic analysis provides insights into the growth-promoting mechanism of MCE, and underscored the importance of utilizing safe and effective growth promoters.

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