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Integrative Analysis of the Microbiome and Metabolome of Broiler Intestine: Insights into the Mechanisms of Probiotic Action as an Antibiotic Substitute

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Abstract

Antibiotic substitutes have become a research focus due to restrictions on antibiotic usage. Among the antibiotic substitutes on the market, probiotics have been extensively researched and used. However, the mechanism by which probiotics replace antibiotics remains unclear. In this study, we aimed to investigate this mechanism by comparing the effects of probiotics and antibiotics on broiler growth performance and intestinal microbiota composition. Results shown that both probiotics and antibiotics increased daily weight gain and reduced feed conversion rate in broilers. Analysis of ileum and cecum microorganisms via 16S rRNA gene sequencing revealed that both interventions decreased intestinal microbial diversity. Moreover, the abundance of Bacteroides increased in the mature ileum, while that of Erysipelatoclostridium decreased in the cecum in response to both probiotics and antibiotics. The main metabolites of probiotics and antibiotics in the intestine were found to be organic acids, amino acids, and sugars, which might play comparable roles in growth performance. Furthermore, disaccharides and trisaccharides may be essential components in the ileum that enable probiotics to replace antibiotics. These findings provide important insights into the mechanisms underlying the use of probiotics as antibiotic substitutes in broiler breeding.

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Data and Model Availability 

None of the data were deposited in an official repository, but are available from the corresponding author upon request.

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Funding

This work was supported by the Collaborative Innovation Center of GDAAS (No. XTXM 202205), Special Fund for Rural Revitalization Strategy of Guangdong Province (No. Jiangke[2021]183), Scientific Research Project of Guangdong Laboratory for Lingnan Modern Agriculture Heyuan Sub-center (No. DT20220038), the Open Competition Program of Top Nine Critical Priorities of Agricultural Science, Technology Innovation for the 14th Five-Year Plan of Guangdong Province (2023SDZG09), Natural Science Foundation of Guangdong Province (2023A1515011088), Young Talent Support Project of Guangzhou Association for Science and Technology (QT20230101087), and 2022 Provincial Agricultural Science and Technology Development and Resource Environment Protect Management Projects (2022KJ158).

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Author notes

  1. Yang Li and Jian-Ling Zhang are co-first authors.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Agro-biological Gene Research Center, State Key Laboratory of Livestock and Poultry Breeding, Guangdong Academy of Agricultural Sciences, No. 20 **ying Road, Tianhe District, Guangzhou, Guangdong, 510640, China

    Yang Li, Zhuang Chen, Shi Liu, **g Liu, Wen-Jie Huang, Jun-** Deng & Zhi-Lin Wang

  2. Jiangmen Customs Technology Center, Jiangmen, 529085, China

    Jian-Ling Zhang

  3. He Yuan Branch of Ling Nan Modern Agricultural Science and Technology Guangdong Provincial Laboratory, Heyuan, 517500, China

    Jia-Zhou Li & Jun-** Deng

  4. Institute of Animal Science, Guangdong Academy of Agricultural Sciences, The Key Laboratory of Animal Nutrition and Feed Science in South China, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Guangdong Key Laboratory of Animal Breeding and Nutrition, No. 1 Dafeng Street, Wushan Road, Tianhe District, Guangzhou, Guangdong, 510640, China

    Jia-Zhou Li & Dong Ruan

  5. College of Landscape Architecture, Guangdong Polytechnic of Science and Trade, Guangzhou, Guangdong, 510640, China

    Jia-Qi Chen

Authors
  1. Yang Li
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Contributions

Yang Li: Conceptualization, Methodology, Investigation, Writing—Original Draft; Jian-Ling Zhang: Investigation, Resources, Data Curation; Jun-** Deng, Wang Jia-Qi and Jia-Zhou Li: Methodology, Writing—Review & Editing; **g Liu and Shi Liu: Methodology, Writing—Review & Editing; Wen-Jie Wang and Dong Ruan: Investigation, Formal Analysis; Jun-** Deng, Zhuang Chen and Zhi-Lin Wang: Supervision.

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Jun-** Deng or Zhi-Lin Wang.

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Ethics Statement

The animal study was reviewed and approved by Animal Experimental Ethical Inspection Form of Agro-biological Gene Research Center, Guangdong Academy of Agricultural Sciences No. 201912.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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Implications

As the most potent antibiotic substitute in poultry breeding, the mechanism by which probiotics replace antibiotics remains unclear. The study aimed to investigate this mechanism by comparing the effects of probiotics and antibiotics on broilers. Results showed that Bacteroides in the ileum and Erysipelatoclostridium in the cecum might be important. Additionally, a central role was played by the disaccharides and trisaccharides in the ileum.

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Li, Y., Zhang, JL., Chen, JQ. et al. Integrative Analysis of the Microbiome and Metabolome of Broiler Intestine: Insights into the Mechanisms of Probiotic Action as an Antibiotic Substitute. Probiotics & Antimicro. Prot. (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12602-024-10304-5

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