EFFECT OF FOOD-BORNE FUSARIUM MYCOTOXINS ON THE GUT MICROBIOME COMPOSITION IN BROILER CHICKENS AND IN PIGS

The mycotoxins deoxynivalenol (DON) and fumonisins (FBs) exert toxicity toward the intestinal epithelial barrier and immune system. Besides, following ingestion of contaminated feed, the intestinal microbiota will be exposed to these toxins. The gut harbours a complex community of over trillions microbial cells which influence animal physiology, metabolism, nutrition and immune function, while disruption of the gut microbiota has been linked with poor intestinal health. The aim of this presentation is to discuss comparatively the impact of mycotoxins on intestinal microbiota composition in broiler chickens and pigs.
In a first study, the impact of DON and FBs on the composition of the intestinal microbiota in broiler chickens of different ages was assessed. Chickens of 1 day old were fed either a control diet, a DON contaminated diet (3.3-3.7 mg DON/kg feed) or a FBs contaminated diet (15.5-18.3 mg FB1+FB2/kg feed). Subsequently, after a feeding period of one, three and five weeks chickens were euthanized and ileal and caecal content samples were collected. In a second study, the impact of DON and its acetylated forms on the gut microbiome in piglets of 3 weeks old was investigated. Piglets were fed either a control diet or a DON contaminated diet (0.4 mg DON, 0.3 mg 3-acetylDON, and 0.8 mg 15-acetylDON/kg feed) for 5 weeks. Following euthanasia, colon content samples were collected. Intestinal microbiome profiling was performed by next-generation sequencing of 16S ribosomal DNA. The hyper-variable V4 region was amplified by using the 515F-806R primer set, and the amplicon library was prepared with Nextera adaptors. Subsequently, PCR fragments were sequenced by MiSeq Illumina sequencing (96 samples per lane, 2x300bp 5Gb raw data per lane).
The results showed that the impact of DON and FBs on the intestinal microbiota is species- and age-dependent. Mycotoxin exposure modulated the abundance of several members of the family of Lachnospiraceae, Ruminococcacceae, Peptococaceae, Coriobacteriaceae, Bifidobacteriaceae, Clostridiaceae, and Veillonellaceae. Several of the affected microbial genera are involved in the production of short-chain fatty acids such as butyric acid.