What is the Composition of the Avian Respiratory Microbiome?
Date
2014-05
Authors
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Journal ISSN
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Publisher
University of Delaware
Abstract
The microbiome of an organism is as critical to its health as is any other organ.
Characterizing the microbial communities associated with agricultural animals, such
as poultry, is important for understanding the relationships between these animals and
their environment. My research goal is to develop the technology and methods needed
to enumerate and characterize the bacterial microbiome in the respiratory tract of the
broiler chicken. Bronchoalveolar lavage fluid was collected from several four-week
old broiler chickens, some of which were infected with a cocktail of respiratory viral
vaccine strains, infectious bronchitis virus (IBV), New Castle disease virus (NDV),
and infectious laryngotracheitis virus (ILTV). The bronchoalveolar lavage fluid from
two control and two infected birds was processed, and the bacterial and viral
communities were extracted and counted. Using 16S rRNA analysis by highthroughput
Illumina sequencing followed by bioinformatic analysis, we plan to
identify the bacterial species present in the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid and determine
their relative abundances. The results of this project can ultimately allow scientists to
track how the microbiome changes during growth and disease and in response to
variations in nutrition and environment.