Impact of Dietary Galacto-Oligosaccharide (GOS) on Chicken's Gut Microbiota, Mucosal Gene Expression, andColonization.

Abstract

Preventingcolonization in young birds is key to reducing contamination of poultry products for human consumption (eggs and meat). While severalvaccines have been developed that are capable of yielding high systemic antibodies, it is not clear how effective these approaches are at controlling or preventingcolonization of the intestinal tract. Effective alternative control strategies are needed to help supplement the bird's ability to preventcolonization, specifically by making the cecum less hospitable to. In this study, we investigated the effect of the prebiotic galacto-oligosaccharide (GOS) on the cecal microbiome and ultimately the carriage of. Day-old pullet chicks were fed control diets or diets supplemented with GOS (1% w/w) and then challenged with a cocktail ofTyphimurium andEnteritidis. Changes in cecal tonsil gene expression, cecal microbiome, and levels of cecal and extraintestinalwere assessed at 1, 4, 7, 12, and 27 days post infection. While thecounts were generally lower in the GOS-treated birds, the differences were not significantly different at the end of the experiment. However, these data demonstrated that treatment with the prebiotic GOS can modify both cecal tonsil gene expression and the cecal microbiome, suggesting that this type of treatment may be useful as a tool for altering the carriage ofin poultry.