title: Succession and replacement of bacterial populations in the caecum of egg laying hens over their whole life.
abstract: In this study we characterised the development of caecal microbiota in egg laying hens over their commercial production lifespan, from the day of hatching until 60 weeks of age. Using pyrosequencing of V3/V4 variable regions of 16S rRNA genes for microbiota characterisation, we were able to define 4 different stages of caecal microbiota development. The first stage lasted for the first week of life and was characterised by a high prevalence of Enterobacteriaceae (phylum Proteobacteria). The second stage lasted from week 2 to week 4 and was characterised by nearly an absolute dominance of Lachnospiraceae and Ruminococcaceae (both phylum Firmicutes). The third stage lasted from month 2 to month 6 and was characterised by the succession of Firmicutes at the expense of Bacteroidetes. The fourth stage was typical for adult hens in full egg production aged 7 months or more and was characterised by a constant ratio of Bacteroidetes and Firmicutes formed by equal numbers of the representatives of both phyla.
authors.affiliation: Veterinary Research Institute, Brno, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Petra
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Videnska
authors.affiliation: The University of Technology, Brno, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Karel
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Sedlar
authors.affiliation: Veterinary Research Institute, Brno, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Maja
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lukac
authors.affiliation: Veterinary Research Institute, Brno, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Marcela
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Faldynova
authors.affiliation: Veterinary Research Institute, Brno, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Lenka
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Gerzova
authors.affiliation: Veterinary Research Institute, Brno, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Darina
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Cejkova
authors.affiliation: Veterinary Research Institute, Brno, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Frantisek
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Sisak
authors.affiliation: Veterinary Research Institute, Brno, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Ivan
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Rychlik
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002432:Cecum / Q000382:microbiology*; D002645:Chickens / Q000254:growth & development / Q000382:microbiology*; D005260:Female; D000069196:Gastrointestinal Microbiome / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D064307:Microbiota; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S