Comparative Analysis of Chicken Cecal Microbial Diversity and Taxonomic Composition in Response to Dietary Variation using 16S rRNA Amplicon Sequencing

Abstract

Antibiotic resistance poses a serious threat to human and animal health. As a consequence, their use in conventional poultry feed may be replaced by non-antibiotic additives (alternatives to antibiotics, ATAs). Phytogenic feed additives and organic acids have been gaining considerable attention that could abate the proliferation of pathogenic bacteria and strengthen gut function in broiler chickens. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of phytogenic feed additives and organic acids on cecal microbial diversity using 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing of the V3-V4 region. In this study, 240 chicks were divided into