Novel microbiome based biomarkers of poultry gut health

动物的胃肠道中含有数以万亿计的微生物，这些微生物对它们的健康和福祉起着至关重要的作用。在集约化条件下饲养的家禽暴露在环境应激下，扰乱其肠道微生物群，并对其健康产生不利影响。本专业将研究环境应激对肠道微生物群结构和功能的影响以及对免疫状态的影响，目的是寻找新的家禽肠道健康生物标志物。这将能够选择能够承受这些压力的鸟类，并在它们屈服于压力对鸟类性能和福利的负面影响之前识别脆弱种群。最终，这个项目可能会减少禽类的损失，提高饲料转化率，并降低疾病治疗所需兽药的相关成本。减少抗生素的治疗性使用将有助于解决全球对环境中抗生素耐药性的关切。

The animal gastrointestinal tract contains trillions of microbes that play a critical role in their health and wellbeing. Poultry birds reared under intensive conditions are exposed to environmental stresses that disturb their gut microbiome and adversely impact on their health. This studentship will investigate the impact of environmental stresses on the structure and function of the gut microbiome as well as on the immune status with the objective of identifying novel biomarkers of poultry gut health. This will enable selection of birds that can withstand these stresses and also identify vulnerable populations before they succumb to the negative impact of stresses on the bird performance and welfare. Ultimately this project can potentially reduce loss of birds, improve feed conversion and reduce cost associated of veterinary drugs required for disease treatment. Reduction in therapeutic use of antibiotic will contribute to addressing the global concerns of antibiotic resistance in the environment.