Effects Of Compound Probiotics On The Immune-related Factors And Gut Microbiota Of Growing Forest Musk Deer

Forest musk deer(FMD,Moschus berezovskii)are endangered due to indiscriminate hunting and killing and FMD were listed as the first-class protected animal.Some success has been achieved in captivity,but the health problems of FMD restrict the development of captive FMD.Dysbacteriosis is an important factor causing intestinal diseases of FMD.Probiotics are intended to provide health benefits when consumed,generally by improving or restoring the gut flora.This study was conducted with the aim of analyzing the effects of forest musk deer compound probiotics(FMDPs)on weight and immunity in growing FMD by measuring average daily weight gain(ADG)and immune-related factors and by using high-throughput16 S rRNA sequencing to investigate differences in the gut microbiota among the control group(4 samples),treatment group A(4 samples)and treatment group B(4 samples).In addition,the number of lactic acid bacteria in feces was measured by the viable plate count method.1.Effects of compound probiotics on the weight,immunity performance and the number of lactic acid bacteria in feces of forest musk deer: After FMDP feeding,there were no significant differences in the average daily feed intake of three groups and the average daily weight gain(ADG)of the treatment groups was significantly higher than that of the control group(P<0.05).The feed/gain(F/G)ratio was significantly lower than that of the control group(P<0.05).The increase in Ig A and Ig G levels in treatment group B was significantly higher than that in the control group(P<0.05),and there was no significant change in TNF-α,IFN-γ,Ig M and IL-2 levels(P>0.05).2.Effects of compound probiotics on the gut microbiota of forest musk deer: The bacteria that could be tested were classified into 21 phyla,37 classes,63 orders,132 families,and 256 genera.After FMDP feeding,the number of components shared by the control group and treatment group A increased,the Chao1,Shannon and Simpson indices of treatment group B increased after FMDP feeding,and the difference was statistically significant(P<0.05).The Shannon index showed a marked difference(P<0.01),but there was no significant change in the ACE index.There was no significant change in the Chao1,ACE,Shannon and Simpson indices of the control group and treatment group A after FMDP feeding(P>0.05),and the Chao1 and ACE indices of the control group both showed a downward trend.In PCo A,samples of treatment group A and treatment group B exhibited obvious clustering after FMDP feeding,and samples of control group were still scattered.The gut microbiota of the treatment groups were significantly changed at phylum level and genus level after FMDP feeding.At the phylum level the relative abundance of Proteobacteria was significantly lower than on day 0(P<0.05),the relative abundances of Firmicutes and Verrucomicrobia were significantly higher than those on day 0(P<0.05).At the genus level,the relative abundance of Pseudomonas was significantly decreased(P<0.05),and the relative abundances of Ruminococcus,Akkermansia,Oscillospira,Coprococcus and Clostridium were significantly increased(P<0.05).In summary,the results indicated that FMDPs could promote the growth of growing FMD,improve immunity,balance the role of intestinal microbes,increase the diversity and richness of gut microbiota and promote the growth of beneficial bacteria in the intestinal tract.It lays an important foundation for the extensive application of FMDP in artificial breeding of forest musk deer...