AUTHOR=Feng Xin , Li Tonghao , Zhu Hui , Liu Lidan , Bi Shengqun , Chen Xiaolin , Zhang Huihua 

TITLE=Effects of challenge with Clostridium perfringens, Eimeria and both on ileal microbiota of yellow feather broilers

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Microbiology

VOLUME=13

YEAR=2022

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/microbiology/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2022.1063578

DOI=10.3389/fmicb.2022.1063578

ISSN=1664-302X

ABSTRACT=<p>In the poultry industry worldwide, <italic>Clostridium perfringens</italic> has been causing major economic loss as it can cause necrotic enteritis (NE). The coccidial infection has been considered as the most important predisposing factor of NE caused by <italic>C. perfringens</italic>. In this study, we aimed to advance our knowledge on ileal microbiota of yellow feather broilers under <italic>C. perfringens</italic> and/or <italic>Eimeria</italic> challenge. Total of 80 healthy day old yellow feather broilers were randomly assigned to four groups including: Control, <italic>C. perfringens</italic> challenge group (C. Per), <italic>Eimeria</italic> challenge group (Cocc), and <italic>C. perfringens</italic> plus <italic>Eimeria</italic> challenge group (Comb). On day 14, the Cocc and Comb group broilers were orally gavaged 1 ml PBS solution containing 25,000 oocysts of <italic>Eimeria brunetti</italic> and 25,000 oocysts of <italic>Eimeria maxima</italic>. Starting on day 17, the C. Per and Comb group broilers were orally gavaged 10 mL of <italic>C. perfringens</italic> per bird (4 × 10<sup>7</sup> CFU/mL, ATCC<sup>®</sup> 13124™ Strain) every day for 6 days. 16S rRNA gene sequencing was performed on extracted DNA of ileal digesta samples. The results showed that <italic>C. perfringens</italic> alone did not affect the alpha diversity of ileal microbiome in yellow feather broilers but co-infection with <italic>Eimeria</italic> significantly decreased the diversity of ileal microbiota. <italic>C. perfringens</italic> and <italic>Eimeria</italic> challenge also decreased the relative abundance of beneficial bacteria including <italic>Bacteroidetes</italic> at the phylum level and <italic>Faecalibacterium</italic> at the genus level. At the species level, the relative abundance of <italic>Candidatus Arthromitus</italic> was significantly decreased in the <italic>Eimeria</italic> challenged groups. This microbial shift information of ileal microbiota under <italic>C. Perfringens</italic> and <italic>Eimeria</italic> challenge provide important reference data for the development of therapeutic approaches to necrotic enteritis in yellow-feather broiler chickens.</p>