Effect of Dietary Supplementation with a Saccharomyces cerevisiae Mannan Oligosaccharide on the Bacterial Community Structure of Broiler Cecal Contents

This study investigated the effects of dietary supplementation with a prebiotic mannan oligosaccharide (MOS) on broiler performance, bacterial community structure, and phylogenetic populations of cecal contents. Bird performance data were collected, and cecal samples were extracted from randomly caught poults from each treatment group every 7 days from hatching to the age of 42 days. Weight gain, feed consumption, and feed efficiency ratios did not differ significantly between groups. Automated ribosomal intergenic spacer analysis (ARISA) of the bacterial communities in birds receiving MOS-supplemented diets indicated that dietary supplementation with MOS at either of 2 levels significantly altered the bacterial community structure from that of the control group on all sample days. The phylogenetic identities of bacteria contained within the cecum were determined by constructing a 16S rRNA gene clone library. A total of 594 partial 16S rRNA gene sequences from the cecal contents were analyzed and compared for the three dietary treatments. The dominant bacteria of the cecum belonged to three phyla, Firmicutes, Bacteroidetes, and Proteobacteria; of these, Firmicutes were the most dominant in all treatment groups. Statistical analysis of the bacterial 16S rRNA gene clone libraries showed that the compositions of the clone libraries from broilers receiving MOS-supplemented diets were, in most cases, significantly different from that of the control group. It can be concluded that in this trial MOS supplementation significantly altered the cecal bacterial community structure.