Host transcriptomics and Gut microbiome analysis in Broilers with contrasting feed conversion ratio (FCR)

Feed efficiency has been considered as a major factor in contribution to the economic sustainability of broiler production, where feed represents greatest variable cost. Feed efficiency can be measured using the feed conversion ratio (FCR), which is a composite trait and defined as the amount of feed intake per unit of body weight gain during a specified period. Though intense genetic selection has been subjected for most economically important traits in farm animals, but measures such as feed conversion ratio (FCR) remain variable, even between full siblings. In the present study, seven full-sib pairs of broilers that showed divergent (low or high) FCR were chosen from the progeny of 300 broiler families. As a complex feed efficiency trait, FCR is influenced by host genetics and the environment. However, it has also been proposed that the intestinal microbiota have an influence on the farm animal performance. To gain new insight into the complex traits and underlying functional mechanisms that govern feed efficiency, we have used a combined approach to profile global intestinal and liver tissue transcriptomes and define the associated intestinal luminal microbiota, including differential analysis from full-sib broilers with divergent FCR.