Poultry Microbiome Analysis

BaseClear offers complete poultry microbiome analysis and reporting services for better insights into microbial populations and their functions. BaseClear is involved in many projects that are focused on this emerging research area to identify and characterise the microbiomes of poultry.

Feed efficiency in poultry

The microbiome is currently a relatively unexplored area of research into feed conversion efficiency in poultry. The gut microbiome of poultry potentially contributes to feed efficiency through several mechanisms. These include improvements in the health of the bird, and allowing the inclusion of feed ingredients that are lower cost but can be metabolised by the gut microbiome to improve nutrient availability. The chicken microbiome could potentially be modified to increase the production of short chain fatty acids by gut bacteria, thereby increasing the harvestable energy of the feed. In a feeding study using a combination of a probiotic and prebiotic (Bifidobacterium animalis sspanimalisLactobacillus salivarius ssp. salivarius, and Enterococcus faecium, together with fructooligosaccharides), birds treated from hatching with the synbiotic showed lower mortality and improved feed conversion.

Antimicrobial resistance and the chicken microbiome

Antimicrobial resistance is one of the most pressing global health concerns and threatens our ability to easily treat simple infections in both humans and animals. While antibiotics help protect animal health and food safety, strategies are needed to help reduce the risk of on-farm drug resistance. Combating antimicrobial resistance requires a multi-pronged and coordinated approach across industries, and support from cutting-edge research.

One key strategy involves monitoring the persistence and spread of antibiotic resistance genes (ARG) among microorganisms, while unravelling the impact of ARG on the environment and animal and human health. This surveillance is also essential for assessing the impact of interventions which may positively modulate the ARG repertoire in the poultry microbiome, such as changes in diet, alternative antibiotic regimens, and products which increase bacterial sensitivity to antibiotics.

What BaseClear offers

BaseClear offers several end-to-end solutions for chicken microbiome analysis, including:

  • Pathogen detection & surveillance
  • Microbiome expert partner for in vitro/in vivo research and field trials
  • Metatranscriptomics and metabolic pathway analysis: measuring the effect of prebiotics, probiotics, synbiotics or enzymes
  • Strain tracking & colonisation using metagenomics analyses and quantitative PCR
  • Poultry-specific microbial gene and genome catalogues
  • Discovery of novel strains, biomarkers or enzymes with our culturomics solution
  • Safety assessment of microbial strains used as feed additive

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