Chickens in commercial production are hatched in hatcheries without any contact with their parents and colonization of their skin and respiratory tract is therefore dependent on environmental sources only. However, since chickens evolved to be hatched in nests, in this study we evaluated the importance of contact between hens and chicks for the development of chicken skin and tracheal microbiota. Sequencing of PCR amplified V3/V4 variable regions of the 16S rRNA gene showed that contact with adult hens decreased the abundance of E. coli, Proteus mirabilis and Clostridium perfringens both in skin and the trachea, and Acinetobacter johnsonii and Cutibacterium acnes in skin microbiota only. These species were replaced by Lactobacillus gallinarum, Lactobacillus aviarius, Limosilactobacillus reuteri, and Streptococcus pasterianus in the skin and tracheal microbiota of contact chicks. Lactobacilli can be therefore investigated for their probiotic effect in respiratory tract in the future. Skin and respiratory microbiota of contact chickens was also enriched for Phascolarctobacterium, Succinatimonas, Flavonifractor, Blautia, and [Ruminococcus] torque though, since these are strict anaerobes from the intestinal tract, it is likely that only DNA from nonviable cells was detected for these taxa.

• Klíčová slova
• caecum, chicken, respiratory tract microbiota, skin, trachea,
• MeSH
• dýchací soustava MeSH
• Escherichia coli genetika   MeSH
• kur domácí * MeSH
• mikrobiota * MeSH
• RNA ribozomální 16S analýza   MeSH
• zvířata MeSH
• Check Tag
• ženské pohlaví MeSH
• zvířata MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• Názvy látek
• RNA ribozomální 16S MeSH

The concept of competitive exclusion is well established in poultry and different products are used to suppress the multiplication of enteric pathogens in the chicken intestinal tract. While the effect has been repeatedly confirmed, the specific principles of competitive exclusion are less clear. The aim of the study was to compare metabolites in the cecal digesta of differently colonized chickens. Metabolites in the cecal contents of chickens treated with a commercial competitive exclusion product or with an experimental product consisting of 23 gut anaerobes or in control untreated chickens were determined by mass spectrometry. Extensive differences in metabolite composition among the digesta of all 3 groups of chickens were recorded. Out of 1,706 detected compounds, 495 and 279 were differently abundant in the chicks treated with a commercial or experimental competitive exclusion product in comparison to the control group, respectively. Soyasaponins, betaine, carnitine, glutamate, tyramine, phenylacetaldehyde, or 3-methyladenine were more abundant in the digesta of control chicks while 4-oxododecanedioic acid, nucleotides, dipeptides, amino acids (except for glutamate), and vitamins were enriched in the digesta of chickens colonized by competitive exclusion products. Metabolites enriched in the digesta of control chicks can be classified as of plant feed origin released in the digesta by degradative activities of the chicken. Some of these molecules disappeared from the digesta of chicks colonized by complex microbiota due to them being metabolized. Instead, nucleotides, amino acids, and vitamins increased in the digesta of colonized chicks as a consequence of the additional digestive potential brought to the cecum by microbiota from competitive exclusion products. It is therefore possible to affect metabolite profiles in the chicken cecum by its colonization with selected bacterial species.

• Klíčová slova
• cecum, chicken, competitive exclusion, metabolome, microbiota,
• MeSH
• cékum mikrobiologie   MeSH
• kur domácí * mikrobiologie   MeSH
• kyselina glutamová MeSH
• nemoci drůbeže * mikrobiologie   MeSH
• nukleotidy MeSH
• vitamin K MeSH
• vitaminy MeSH
• zvířata MeSH
• Check Tag
• zvířata MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• Názvy látek
• kyselina glutamová MeSH
• nukleotidy MeSH
• vitamin K MeSH
• vitaminy MeSH