Establishment And Transmission Of Gut Microbiota In Chicken

The host and dynamic and enormous microbial communities composed a superorganism.Studies suggested that the microbiota was mutualistic,co-metabolism,and coevolved with host genetic and environmental factors.In vivipara,the gut microbiota can be transmitted from placenta,uterus,and vagina of mother to infant.While the development of oviparous embryos isolated from maternal body.Until now,gut microbial establishment and transmission during the development of avian embryo remain blurry and mysterious.In this study,using chicken as a model organism we investigated the gut microbial composition by the technology of metagenomics in embryo,chick and maternal hen.We discovered:(1)28 phyla and 162 genera of microbes detected in embryo.The predominant phylum is Proteobacteria(86%).The predominant genus is Halomonas(79%).(2)In different development ages,for the 162 taxonomically annotated microbes of embryo,42%(68/162)and 62%(100/162)gut microbial genera were found in mother hen and chick respectively.Concurrently,comparing the gut microbiota between chick and mother hen,69%(91/132)genera of chick was present in mother hen.Interestingly,65 genera are core microbes,which can be detected in embryo,chick,and maternal hen.(3)Microbiota functional prediction results revealed that gut microbes of embryo which were involved in amino acid metabolism,xenobiotic biodegradation and metabolism,lipid metabolism,signal transduction,cell motility,cell communication related to growth and development.Infectious diseases,energy metabolism and digestive system enriched in chick.Carbohydrate metabolism,environmental adaptation,and genetic information processing were most enriched pathway in maternal hen.(4)94% genera of gut microbes were similar among the breed of Beijing fatty,Xianju and Shiqiza chickens,which maintained in a common diet and husbandry.Our results supported the hypothesis that microbiota of embryo was initially from their maternal hen and the gut microbiota,whose composition adjusted by the host growth and development,can be transmitted from maternal hen to embryo and then to chick.