Effect of in ovo feeding of xylobiose and xylotriose on plasma immunoglobulin, cecal metabolites production, microbial ecology, and metabolic pathways in broiler chickens

Dietary supplementation of xylooligosaccharides (XOS) has been found to influence gut health by manipulating cecal microbiota and producing microbe-origin metabolites. But no study investigated and compared the effect of in ovo feeding of xylobiose (XOS2) and xylotriose (XOS3) in chickens. This study investigated the effect of in ovo feeding of these XOS compounds on post-hatch gut health parameters in chickens. A total of 144 fertilized chicken eggs were divided into three groups: a) non-injected control (CON), b) XOS2, and c) XOS3. On the 17th embryonic day, the eggs of the XOS2 and XOS3 groups were injected with 3 mg of XOS2 and XOS3 diluted in 0.5 mL of 0.85% normal saline through the amniotic sac. After hatching, the chicks were raised for 21 d. Blood was collected on d 14 to measure plasma immunoglobulin. Cecal digesta were collected for measuring short-chain fatty acids (SCFA) on d 14 and 21, and for microbial ecology and microbial metabolic pathway analyses on d 7 and 21. The results were considered significantly different at P < 0.05. ELISA quantified plasma IgA and IgG on d 14 chickens, revealing no differences among the treatments. Gas chromatography results showed no significant differences in the concentrations of cecal SCFAs on d 14 but significant differences on d 21. However, the SCFA concentrations were lower in the XOS3 than in the CON group on d 21. The cecal metagenomics data showed that the abundance of the family Clostridiaceae significantly decreased on d 7, and the abundance of the family Oscillospiraceae increased on d 21 in the XOS2 compared to the CON. There was a reduction in the relative abundance of genus Clostridium sensu stricto 1 in the XOS2 compared to the CON on d 7 and the genus Ruminococcus torques in both XOS2 and XOS3 groups compared to the CON on d 21. The XOS2 and XOS3 groups reduced the genes for chondroitin sulfate degradation I and L-histidine degradation I pathways, which contribute to improved gut health, respectively, in the microbiome on d 7. In contrast, on d 21, the XOS2 and XOS3 groups enriched the thiamin salvage II, L-isoleucine biosynthesis IV, and O-antigen building blocks biosynthesis (E. coli) pathways, which are indicative of improved gut health. Unlike the XOS3 and CON, the microbiome enriched the pathways associated with energy enhancement, including flavin biosynthesis I, sucrose degradation III, and Calvin-Benson-Bassham cycle pathways, in the XOS2 group on d 21. In ovo XOS2 and XOS3 feeding promoted beneficial bacterial growth and reduced harmful bacteria at the family and genus levels. The metagenomic-based microbial metabolic pathway profiling predicted a favorable change in the availability of cecal metabolites in the XOS2 and XOS3 groups. The modulation of microbiota and metabolic pathways suggests that in ovo XOS2 and XOS3 feeding improved gut health during the post-hatch period of broilers.