Altitude-dependent agro-ecologies impact the microbiome diversity of scavenging indigenous chicken in Ethiopia.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Scavenging indigenous village chickens play a vital role in sub-Saharan Africa, sustaining the livelihood of millions of farmers. These chickens are exposed to vastly different environments and feeds compared to commercial chickens. In this study, we analysed the caecal microbiota of 243 Ethiopian village chickens living in different altitude-dependent agro-ecologies.

Results

Differences in bacterial diversity were significantly correlated with differences in specific climate factors, topsoil characteristics, and supplemental diets provided by farmers. Microbiota clustered into three enterotypes, with one particularly enriched at high altitudes. We assembled 9977 taxonomically and functionally diverse metagenome-assembled genomes. The vast majority of these were n

SUBMITTER: Glendinning L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11267795 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature