Bacterial communities in the upper respiratory tract of turkeys. Upper respiratory tract of turkeys

The respiratory tracts of turkeys are the main route of infection therefore plays important roles in the overall health and performance of the birds. Most of the current research has focused on the chicken microbiome and less attention has been given to turkeys respiratory microbiome. Characterization of microbial communities in the upper respiratory tract of turkeys could help better understand the role of pathogenic bacteria and other commensal or symbiotic microorganisms in the infection. The aim of this study was characterization the bacterial diversity in the commercial turkeys respiratory tracks using next-generation sequencing technologies.Taxonomic analysis of the microbiome was done by of the V3 and V4 regions of 16S rRNA gene (MiSeq, Illumina) amplification. The phylogenetic analysis identified the 10 bacterial phyla in turkey, the most abundant were phyla Firmicutes and Proteobacteria, accounting for >99% of all the sequences. The turkey sequences represent 144 established bacterial genera. Differences between bacterial abundances were found at the family and genus level. Several defining markers of microbiome succession were identified, including the presence of Ornithobacterium and Mycoplasma.These results obtained in this study supply information about turkey microbiome and can be useful in controlling, diagnosing and treating commercial turkey flocks.