title: Age-Related Differences in the Luminal and Mucosa-Associated Gut Microbiome of Broiler Chickens and Shifts Associated withCampylobacter jejuniInfection.
abstract: Despite the importance of gut microbiota for broiler performance and health little is known about the composition of this ecosystem, its development and response towards bacterial infections. Therefore, the current study was conducted to address the composition and structure of the microbial community in broiler chickens in a longitudinal study from day 1 to day 28 of age in the gut content and on the mucosa. Additionally, the consequences of aCampylobacter (C.) jejuniinfection on the microbial community were assessed. The composition of the gut microbiota was analyzed with 16S rRNA gene targeted Illumina MiSeq sequencing. Sequencing of 130 samples yielded 51,825,306 quality-controlled sequences, which clustered into 8285 operational taxonomic units (OTUs; 0.03 distance level) representing 24 phyla.Firmicutes, Proteobacteria, Bacteroidetes, Actinobacteria, andTenericuteswere the main components of the gut microbiota, withProteobacteriaandFirmicutesbeing the most abundant phyla (between 95.0 and 99.7% of all sequences) at all gut sites. Microbial communities changed in an age-dependent manner. Whereas, young birds had moreProteobacteria, Firmicutes, andTenericutesdominated in older birds (>14 days old). In addition, 28 day old birds had more diverse bacterial communities than young birds. Furthermore, numerous significant differences in microbial profiles between the mucosa and luminal content of the small and large intestine were detected, with some species being strongly associated with the mucosa whereas others remained within the luminal content of the gut. Following oral infection of 14 day old broiler chickens with 1 × 108CFU ofC. jejuniNCTC 12744, it was found thatC. jejuniheavily colonized throughout the small and large intestine. Moreover,C. jejunicolonization was associated with an alteration of the gut microbiota with infected birds having a significantly lower abundance ofEscherichia (E.) coliat different gut sites. On the contrary, the level ofClostridiumspp. was higher in infected birds compared with birds from the negative controls. In conclusion, the obtained results demonstrate how the bacterial microbiome composition changed within the early life of broiler chickens in the gut lumen and on the mucosal surface. Furthermore, our findings confirmed that theCampylobactercarrier state in chicken is characterized by multiple changes in the intestinal ecology within the host.
authors.affiliation: Department for Farm Animals and Veterinary Public Health, Clinic for Poultry and Fish Medicine, University of Veterinary MedicineVienna, Austria; Department of Animal Hygiene, Poultry and Environment, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, South Valley UniversityQena, Egypt.
authors.forename: Wageha A
authors.initials: WA
authors.lastname: Awad
authors.affiliation: Department for Farm Animals and Veterinary Public Health, Institute of Milk Hygiene, University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: Evelyne
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Mann
authors.affiliation: Department for Farm Animals and Veterinary Public Health, Institute of Milk Hygiene, University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: Monika
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Dzieciol
authors.affiliation: Department for Farm Animals and Veterinary Public Health, Clinic for Poultry and Fish Medicine, University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: Claudia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Hess
authors.affiliation: Department for Farm Animals and Veterinary Public Health, Institute of Milk Hygiene, University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: Stephan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Schmitz-Esser
authors.affiliation: Department for Farm Animals and Veterinary Public Health, Institute of Milk Hygiene, University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Wagner
authors.affiliation: Department for Farm Animals and Veterinary Public Health, Clinic for Poultry and Fish Medicine, University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hess
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D000818:Animals; D002169:Campylobacter Infections / Q000382:microbiology / Q000662:veterinary*; D002645:Chickens; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D004275:DNA, Ribosomal / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D000069196:Gastrointestinal Microbiome; D041981:Gastrointestinal Tract / Q000382:microbiology*; D007413:Intestinal Mucosa / Q000382:microbiology*; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D010802:Phylogeny; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S / Q000235:genetics; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA
chemical_list: D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D004275:DNA, Ribosomal; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S
keywords: 16S rRNA gene; Campylobacter jejuni; MiSeq sequencing; age; broiler chickens; luminal content; microbiota; mucosa