Intergenerational Transmission of Gut Microbiome from Infected and Non-Infected Salmonella pullorum Hens

Pullorum disease (PD) is one of the common infectious diseases in the poultry industry in the world. Our previous study showed that gut bacterial structure has a significant difference between positive and negative hens. However, the gut bacterial basis of intergenerational transmission of PD continues to elude a scientific explanation. The present study carried out fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) in chicks of a negative group, then fecal samples of the chicks in the control team (CT), <i>Salmonella pullorum</i> (<i>S. pullorum</i>)-negative transplantation team (PN) and <i>S. pullorum</i>-positive transplantation team (PP) were separately collected to be analyzed for microbial structure and prediction functions. Microbial diversity results revealed that there was a large difference in the gut microbiota of these three groups. <i>Prevotella</i> and <i>Parasutterella</i> with higher abundance in PN (<i>p</i> < 0.05) were transplanted from gut bacteria of <i>S. pullorum</i>-negative hens. Furthermore, the differences of the most major microbial functions (top 100) were similar in hens and chicks, including a pentose phosphate pathway and oxidative phosphorylation. The data provided a reference for exploring the intergenerational transmission and genetic mechanisms of gut microbiota associated with <i>S. pullorum</i> in poultry, as well as a theoretical basis for improving intestinal health through the rational regulation of microbiota-host interactions.