Coprophagia of rabbit puppies stimulate Immune System Development

The rabbits ingest the mother's droppings at the nest. This behaviour contributes to the transmission of the maternal microbiota to its progeny, it is involved in the maturation of the digestive ecosystem of the rabbits and reduces mortality. In view of these observations, it is possible to assume that the digestive system is involved. To support this hypothesis, gene expression is measured using an expression chip. The aim is to detect over- or under-expressed genes under certain conditions and to link them in particular to immunity. Ileum gene expression of 57 rabbits was measured at 2 different times (35d and 49d old) and for 3 different conditions of breeding (FF: fecal pellets add to the net; NF: no fecal pellets add to the net; FFab: fecal pellets from doe under antibiotics add to the net).