title: The ProbioticButyricicoccus pullicaecorumReduces Feed Conversion and Protects from Potentially Harmful Intestinal Microorganisms and Necrotic Enteritis in Broilers.
abstract: Probiotics which do not result in the development and spread of microbial resistance are among the candidate replacements for antibiotics previously used as growth promotors. In this study the effect of in-feed supplementation of the butyrate producingButyricicoccus pullicaecorumstrain 25-3Ton performance, intestinal microbiota and prevention of necrotic enteritis (NE), a disease caused byClostridium perfringenswas evaluated in broilers. For the performance study, day old Ross 308 chicks were randomly allocated into two treatment groups and fed either a non-supplemented diet or a diet supplemented with 109cfu lyophilizedB. pullicaecorumper kg feed for 40 days. On day 40 broilers administeredB. pullicaecorumhad a significant lower bodyweight (2675 g vs. 2762 g;p= 0.0025) but supplementation ofB. pullicaecorumdecreased the feed conversion ratio significantly (1.518 vs. 1.632;p< 0.0001). Additionally, ingestion of theButyricicoccusstrain significantly lowered the abundance ofCampylobacterspp. in the caecum andEnterococcusandEscherichia/Shigellaspp. in the ileum at day 40. In feed supplementation ofB. pullicaecorumin the NE trials resulted in a significant decrease in the number of birds with necrotic lesions compared with the untreated control group. These studies show that supplementation ofB. pullicaecorumis able to improve feed conversion, to reduce the abundance of some potentially important pathogens in the caeca and ileum and to contribute to the prevention of NE in broilers, making the strain a potential valuable probiotic.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Bacteriology and Avian Diseases, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Ghent University Merelbeke, Belgium.
authors.forename: Venessa
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Eeckhaut
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Rega Institute for Medical Research, KU LeuvenLeuven, Belgium; Center for the Biology of Disease, Vlaams Instituut voor BiotechnologieLeuven, Belgium.
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Bacteriology and Avian Diseases, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Ghent University Merelbeke, Belgium.
authors.forename: Alexander
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Van Parys
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Bacteriology and Avian Diseases, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Ghent University Merelbeke, Belgium.
authors.forename: Freddy
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Haesebrouck
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Rega Institute for Medical Research, KU LeuvenLeuven, Belgium; Microbiology Unit, Faculty of Sciences and Bioengineering Sciences, Vrije Universiteit BrusselBrussels, Belgium.
authors.forename: Marie
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Joossens
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Rega Institute for Medical Research, KU LeuvenLeuven, Belgium; Microbiology Unit, Faculty of Sciences and Bioengineering Sciences, Vrije Universiteit BrusselBrussels, Belgium.
authors.forename: Gwen
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Falony
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Rega Institute for Medical Research, KU LeuvenLeuven, Belgium; Microbiology Unit, Faculty of Sciences and Bioengineering Sciences, Vrije Universiteit BrusselBrussels, Belgium.
authors.forename: Jeroen
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Raes
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Bacteriology and Avian Diseases, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Ghent University Merelbeke, Belgium.
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ducatelle
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Bacteriology and Avian Diseases, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Ghent University Merelbeke, Belgium.
authors.forename: Filip
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Van Immerseel
keywords: Butyricicoccus; FCR; broiler; butyrate; microbiota