Topical Application of Adult Cecal Contents to Eggs Transplants Spore-Forming Microbiota but Not Other Members of the Microbiota to Chicks

• Peter Richards-Rios ^[1] ; Gail Leeming ^[2] ; Jo Fothergill ^[1] ; Marion Bernardeau ^[3] ; Paul Wigley ^[1]
  1. [1] University of Liverpool

     University of Liverpool

     Reino Unido

     
  2. [2] a Institute of Infection and Global Health, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, United Kingdom; b Department of Veterinary Pathology, Infection and Public Health, Institute of Veterinary Science, University of Liverpool
  3. [3] c DuPont Industrial Biosciences, Genencor International BV, Leiden, The Netherlands

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• Localización: Applied and Environmental Microbiology, ISSN 0099-2240, Vol. 86, Nº 5, 2020
• Idioma: inglés
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  • Over the last 60 years poultry production has intensified in response to increased demand for meat. In modern systems, chicks hatch without contacting chickens and their gut bacteria. Consequently, they are colonized by environmental bacteria that may cause disease. The normal bacteria that live in the gut, or intestinal microbiota, play an important role in the development of the immune system. Therefore, it is essential to find easy ways to expose chicks to the more appropriate bacteria at hatching. This experiment investigated whether spraying eggs with adult cecal contents was sufficient to transfer an adult microbiota to chicks. Our findings show that spore-forming bacteria were transplanted, but other members of the microbiota were not. In this respect, the spray application was partially successful, but the timing of the spray needs to be modified to ensure that more bacteria are transferred.