AUTHOR=Cai Haiming , Liao Shenquan , Li Juan , Liu Qihong , Luo Shengjun , Lv Minna , Lin Xuhui , Hu Junjing , Zhang Jianfei , Qi Nanshan , Sun Mingfei 

TITLE=Single and Combined Effects of Clostridium butyricum and Coccidiosis Vaccine on Growth Performance and the Intestinal Microbiome of Broiler Chickens

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Microbiology

VOLUME=13

YEAR=2022

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/microbiology/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2022.811428

DOI=10.3389/fmicb.2022.811428

ISSN=1664-302X

ABSTRACT=<p>Avian coccidiosis is an important intestinal protozoan disease that has caused major economic losses to the poultry industry. <italic>Clostridium butyricum</italic> can not only maintain the stability of the intestinal barrier, but can also improve the production performance of broiler chickens. We studied the effects of feeding <italic>C. butyricum</italic> alone, administration of coccidiosis vaccine alone, and the combined administration of <italic>C. butyricum</italic> and coccidiosis vaccine on body weight gain, feed consumption, and feed conversion ratio of broilers. Meanwhile, intestinal contents of 8- and 15-day-old broilers were collected, and their intestinal microbiome was characterized by high-throughput sequencing of the V3–V4 region of 16S rDNA. We analyzed the oocysts per gram values and lesion scores in the <italic>C. butyricum</italic> alone group, in a group challenged with the coccidiosis-causing parasite, <italic>Eimeria</italic>, and in groups simultaneously challenged <italic>Eimeria</italic> and pretreated with <italic>C. butyricum</italic>, the coccidiosis vaccine, or combined <italic>C. butyricum</italic> and coccidiosis vaccine. Intestinal tissue samples were collected from 32-day-old broilers for microbiome analysis. Our results showed that combination of <italic>C. butyricum</italic> with coccidiosis vaccine significantly improved the performance of broiler chickens and also significantly reduced the oocysts per gram value and intestinal lesions caused by <italic>Eimeria</italic> sp. infection. Furthermore, <italic>C. butyricum</italic> and coccidiosis vaccine administered alone or in combination significantly increased the relative abundance of the immune biomarker genus <italic>Barnesiella</italic>. The significant increase in the abundance of the Clostridia_UCG.014, <italic>Eubacterium coprostanoligenes</italic> group and <italic>Bacteroides</italic> was a key factor in controlling <italic>Eimeria</italic> sp. infection.</p>