Effects of Eimeria tenella infection on chicken caecal microbiome diversity, exploring variation associated with severity of pathology.

ABSTRACT: Eimeria species cause the intestinal disease coccidiosis, most notably in poultry. While the direct impact of coccidiosis on animal health and welfare is clear, its influence on the enteric microbiota and by-stander effects on chicken health and production remains largely unknown, with the possible exception of Clostridium perfringens (necrotic enteritis). This study evaluated the composition and structure of the caecal microbiome in the presence or absence of a defined Eimeria tenella challenge infection in Cobb500 broiler chickens using 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing. The severity of clinical coccidiosis in individual chickens was quantified by caecal lesion scoring and microbial changes associated with different lesion scores identified. Following E. tenella infection the diversity of tax

SUBMITTER: Macdonald SE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5608234 | biostudies-literature | 2017

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature