Effects of dietary supplementation with lysozyme or inulin on the composition and diversity of the cecal microbiota in broiler chickens

Lysozyme and inulin are known to eliminate intestinal pathogens in poultry and improve their growth performance. However, whether they can replace antibiotic growth promoters without the associated risk of the emergence of antibiotic-resistant bacterial strains is not known, and the effects of their supplementation on the composition and biodiversity of the chicken gut microbiota remain unclear. Here, we used the 16S rRNA gene and ITS fragment Illumina sequencing to address this issue.