title: Sorghum and wheat differentially affect caecal microbiota and associated performance characteristics of meat chickens.
abstract: This study compared the effects of wheat- and sorghum-based diets on broiler chickens. The growth performance and caecal microbial community of chickens were measured and correlations between productivity and specific gut microbes were observed. Cobb broilers 15 days of age were individually caged and two dietary treatments were used, one with a wheat-based diet (n= 48) and another one with a sorghum-based diet (n= 48). Growth performance measurements were taken over a 10 day period and samples for microbiota analysis were taken at the end of that period. Caecal microbiota was characterised by sequencing of 16S bacterial rRNA gene amplicons. Overall, the results indicated that a sorghum-based diet produced higher apparent metabolisable energy (AME) and body-weight gain (BWG) values in chickens, compared to a wheat-based diet. Nevertheless, sorghum-fed birds had higher feed conversion ratio (FCR) values than wheat-fed birds, possibly because of some anti-nutritional factors in sorghum. Further analyses showed that caecal microbial community was significantly associated with AME values, but microbiota composition differed between dietary treatments. A number of bacteria were individually correlated with growth performance measurements. Numerous OTUs assigned to strains ofLactobacillus crispatusand Lachnospiraceae, which were prevalent in sorghum-fed chickens, were correlated with high AME and BWG values, respectively. Additionally, a number of OTUs assigned to Clostridiales that were prevalent in wheat-fed chickens were correlated with low FCR values. Overall, these results suggest that between-diet variations in growth performance were partly associated with changes in the caecal microbiota.
authors.affiliation: School of Medical and Applied Sciences, Central Queensland University, Rockhampton, Queensland, Australia.
authors.forename: Eduardo
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Crisol-Martínez
authors.affiliation: School of Medical and Applied Sciences, Central Queensland University, Rockhampton, Queensland, Australia.|Institute for Future Farming Systems, Central Queensland University, Rockhampton, Queensland, Australia.|Poultry Cooperative Research Centre, University of New England, Armidale, New South Wales, Australia.
authors.forename: Dragana
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Stanley
authors.affiliation: Research and Innovation Services, University of South Australia, Mawson Lakes, South Australia, Australia.
authors.forename: Mark S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Geier
authors.affiliation: Poultry Cooperative Research Centre, University of New England, Armidale, New South Wales, Australia.|Pig and Poultry Production Institute, South Australian Research and Development Institute, Roseworthy, South Australia, Australia.|School of Animal and Veterinary Sciences, The University of Adelaide, Roseworthy, South Australia, Australia.
authors.forename: Robert J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Hughes
authors.affiliation: Poultry Cooperative Research Centre, University of New England, Armidale, New South Wales, Australia.|School of Science, RMIT University, Bundoora, Victoria, Australia.|Department of Microbiology, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria, Australia.
authors.forename: Robert J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Moore
keywords: Caecum; Chicken; Diet; Digestive efficiency; Energy assimilation; Feed conversion; Gastrointestinal tract; Microbiota; Sorghum; Wheat