Microencapsulated organic acids and botanicals have the potential to develop into important tools for the poultry industry. A blend of organic acids and botanicals (AviPlus®P) has previously shown to reduce Salmonella and Campylobacter in chickens; however, changes to the microbiota of the jejunum and ileum have not been evaluated. Microbiota diversity is linked to, but not correlated with, the efficacy of natural products; therefore, understanding the effects on the microbiota is necessary for evaluating their potential as an antibiotic alternative. Ileal and jejunal segments from control and supplement-fed chickens (300 and 500 g/metric ton [MT]) were subjected to alpha diversity analysis including Shannon’s diversity and Pielou’s Evenness. In both analytics, the diversity in the ileum was significantly decreased compared to the jejunum irrespective of treatment. Similarly, beta diversity metrics including Bray-Curtis dissimilarity index and Weighted Unifrac Distance Matrix, were significant (Q < 0.05) for both tissue and treatments comparisons. Alpha and beta diversity analytics indicated compartmentalization effects between the ileum and jejunum. Additionally, analysis of communities in the microbiota (ANCOM) analysis showed Lactobacilliaceae predominated the total operational taxonomic units (OTU), with a stepwise increase from 53% in the no treatment control (NTC) to 56% in the 300 g/MT and 67% in the 500 g/MT group. Staphylococcaceae were 2% in NTC and 2 and 0% in 300 and 500 g/MT groups. Enterobacteriaceae decreased in the 500 g/MT (31%) and increased in the 300 g/MT (37%) compared to the NTC (35%). Aerococcaceae was 0% for both doses and 7% in NTC. Ruminococcaceae were 0% in NTC and 2 and 1% in the 300 and 500 g/MT. These changes in the microbial consortia were statistically (Q < 0.05) associated with treatment groups in the jejunum that were not observed in the ileum. Least discriminant analysis effect size (LEfSE) indicated different changes directly corresponding to treatment. Enterobacteriaceae demonstrated a stepwise decrease (from NTC onward) while Clostridiaceae, were significantly increased in the 500 g/MT compared to NTC and 300 g/MT (P < 0.05). The bioactive site for the microencapsulated blend of organic acids and botanicals was the jejunum, and dietary inclusion enhanced the GIT microbiota and may be a viable antibiotic alternative for the poultry industry.

中文翻译：

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微囊化有机酸和植物药的生物效应诱导鸡内菌群发生组织特异性和剂量依赖性变化

微囊化有机酸和植物药有潜力发展成为家禽业的重要工具。有机酸和植物药的混合物 (AviPlus®P) 先前已显示可减少鸡中的沙门氏菌和弯曲杆菌；然而，尚未评估空肠和回肠微生物群的变化。微生物群多样性与天然产品的功效有关，但不相关；因此，了解对微生物群的影响对于评估它们作为抗生素替代品的潜力是必要的。来自对照和补充喂养鸡（300 和 500 克/公吨 [MT]）的回肠和空肠段进行了 alpha 多样性分析，包括香农的多样性和 Pielou 的均匀度。在这两种分析中，与空肠相比，无论治疗如何，回肠的多样性均显着降低。类似地，包括 Bray-Curtis 相异指数和加权 Unifrac 距离矩阵在内的 Beta 多样性指标对于组织和治疗比较而言都是显着的 (Q < 0.05)。Alpha 和 Beta 多样性分析表明回肠和空肠之间的分隔效应。此外，微生物群落分析 (ANCOM) 分析表明，乳杆菌科在总操作分类单位 (OTU) 中占主导地位，从无处理对照 (NTC) 的 53% 逐步增加到 300 g/MT 的 56% 和 67 500 g/MT 组中的 %。葡萄球菌科在 NTC 中为 2%，在 300 和 500 g/MT 组中为 2% 和 0%。与 NTC (35%) 相比，肠杆菌科细菌在 500 g/MT (31%) 中减少，在 300 g/MT (37%) 中增加。两种剂量的 Aerococcaceae 均为 0%，NTC 为 7%。瘤胃球菌科在 NTC 中为 0%，在 300 和 500 g/MT 中为 2% 和 1%。微生物群落中的这些变化在统计学上（Q < 0.05）与在回肠中未观察到的空肠治疗组相关。最小判别分析效应量 (LEfSE) 表明直接对应于治疗的不同变化。肠杆菌科表现出逐步减少（从 NTC 开始），而梭菌科在 500 g/MT 中显着增加，与 NTC 和 300 g/MT 相比（P < 0.05）。有机酸和植物药的微胶囊化混合物的生物活性位点是空肠，