Understanding the Relationship between Immune Receptor Repertoires, the Microbiome and Infection

Around 60 billion chickens are reared worldwide each year representing an efficient and vital protein source for a growing human population1. The chicken gut microbes, known as the intestinal microbiota, play key roles in metabolism and resistance to infection and birds lacking a microbiota shown increased susceptibility to colonisation by pathogens2,3. It has been shown that despite its complexity, the microbiota remains relatively unchanged over time4,5. Simulations and unpublished research suggests this phenomena may be facilitated by the population structure of the intestinal microbiota6. This project seeks to further explore this structure and examine how the microbiota changes with age, its universality across different animal species and how it recovers following perturbation by enteric pathogens. These findings will contribute to novel research aimed at understanding the microbiota structure of agriculturally important animals and developing interventions aimed at stabilising it, such as probiotic therapy.

Priority Area: AFS, ENWW