Mucus-associated microbiota in chicken caecum

Result code in IS VaVaI

<a href="https://www.isvavai.cz/riv?ss=detail&h=RIV%2F00027162%3A_____%2F25%3AN0000131" target="_blank" >RIV/00027162:_____/25:N0000131 - isvavai.cz</a>

Result on the web

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DOI - Digital Object Identifier

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Result language

angličtina

Original language name

Mucus-associated microbiota in chicken caecum

Original language description

Gut of warm-blooded animals, including chicken, is colonized by complex, mostly anaerobic microbial community, which influence the host health and performance. Although the gut content is mixed by peristaltic movements, the microniches which enable attachment were shown to be inhabited by specific local microbial communities. In this study, the differences in microbiota composition among the mucus scrapings and luminal content were investigated in week old chickens and adult hens. Our results clearly showed that in adult hens the microbiota is significantly more complex and more differentiated compared to week old chickens. Mucus layer of adult hens was enriched with species adapted for this specific niche. Mucus-associated species belonging to genuses Mucispirillum, Brachyspira, Treponema, Helicobacter and Desulfovibrio were highly prevalent (73–100 %) and comprised high percentage of all local microbiota (together up to 63 %). In contrast, those bacteria were missing in week-old chickens and their mucus layer was dominated by Ruminococcus torques, the spore forming mucus degrading bacteria of human origin, instead. However, our experiments with co-housing of adult hen together with just hatched chickens clearly show that those bacteria can be transmitted to chickens and are able to colonize them in the very beginning of life. Such colonization is abrogated in commercial chicken production. The high proportion of mucus-associated bacteria in mucus scrapings suggest that those specialists could represent the exclusive colonizers of deeper mucus adjacent to host mucosa and play therefore a key role in host-microbiota interaction. At the same time, our results demonstrate that in the vast majority of studies based on fecal microbiota sequencing, the mucus-associated species are deeply underestimated. In mice, it was demonstrated that the gut microbiota is fundamental for the formation of a proper protective mucus layer. They stimulate the MUC2 protein expression, mucus secretion and its penetrability and change the glycosylation profile of mucins. Moreover, the occupation of the mucin binding sites by beneficial mucus-associated bacteria protects the host from pathogen adhesion. In conclusion, the composition and interactions of mucus-associated microbiota with the host deserves increased attention of scientific community and their role has been underestimated so far. 15th Host Pathogen Interaction Forum 2025, 10-13 November 2025. Třešť, Czech Republic.

Czech name

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Czech description

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Type

O - Miscellaneous

CEP classification

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OECD FORD branch

40301 - Veterinary science

Project

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Continuities

I - Institucionalni podpora na dlouhodoby koncepcni rozvoj vyzkumne organizace

Publication year

2025

Confidentiality

S - Úplné a pravdivé údaje o projektu nepodléhají ochraně podle zvláštních právních předpisů