[Modern biotechnology and optimization of intestinal microbiota in poultry industry] Современные биотехнологии и оптимизация микробиоты кишечника в условиях промышленного птицеводства

Currently, special attention is paid to the optimization of the microbiota in the gastrointestinal tract (GIT) of highly productive commercial poultry. Many studies in the field of feeding, physiology, genetics, and resistance of poultry are devoted to this important area [1–4]. Various feed additives are studied and tested to help create and maintain optimal GIT microflora. Within the framework of a research project supported by the Government of the Russian Federation, biotechnologies are developed at the Skryabin MVA, including scientific approaches and practical techniques for managing the microbiota of the gastrointestinal tract, using modern methods such as assessing the expression of key genes using real-time PCR [5] and the composition of the gut microbiome based on T-RFLP analysis [6,7] and next generation sequencing. The developed technologies are successfully tested in the conditions of commercial egg production and adapted to the conditions of modern egg poultry farms in Russia. At the same time, the effects of feed additives are evaluated not only on the general state of the birds’ organism, including the GIT microbiota [8–12], but also on the productivity and resistance of poultry to infectious diseases [13, 14]. In the future, it is planned to organically integrate the developed microbiota management technology into the existing technological programs for egg production, including that during prolonged exploitation of layers (after the peak of egglaying). At the same time, the synergistic interaction of microflora and various feed additives will be of great importance in order to achieve a favorable effect of additives on the intestinal microbiota and in order to maximize the genetic potential of modern egg laying crosses.

This work was supported by a grant from the Government of the Russian Federation (contract No. 14.W03.31.0013 of February 20, 2017).