Identification of Genetic Traits for Capacity to Digest Non-Standard Feed Materials in Meat Poultry

The overarching aims of this project are to draw on NTU/UoN expertise in emerging feed materials and combine it with the Aviagen genetic assessment programmes to determine some of the mechanisms underpinning response of poultry to changing diet and environmental conditions. The will allow the genes associated with traits needed for efficiency and resilience in a rapidly changing future may be identified. The project will also a develop holistic system for assessing gut health in poultry, which is currently lacking as existing approaches are extremely slow and expensive to undertake and often only consider one element of gut health. Aviagen will provide access to samples from a diverse range of genetic lines and environmental conditions for analysis at NTU and UoN. Currently, high-field Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) sensing technologies are routinely used for metabolomics investigations in humans patients but their prohibitive size and cost suggest a role for low-field (60 MHz) benchtop instruments, where NTU has internationally sought expertise in this field through Prof Philippe Wilson