Composition of rabbit caecal microbiota and the effects of dietary quercetin supplementation and sex thereupon

[EN] The purpose of this study was to add to the current understanding of rabbit caecal microbiota. This involved describing its microbial composition and linking this to live performance parameters, as well as determining the effects of dietary quercetin (Qrc) supplementation (2 g/kg feed) and sex on the microbial population. The weight gain and feed conversion ratio of twelve New Zealand White rabbits was measured from 5 to 12 wk old, blood was sampled at 11 wk old for the determination of serum hormone levels, and the rabbits were slaughtered and caecal samples collected at 13 wk old. Ion 16STM metagenome sequencing was used to determine the microbiota profile. The dominance of Firmicutes (72.01±1.14% of mapped reads), Lachnospiraceae (23.94±1.01%) and Ruminococcaceae (19.71±1.07%) concurred with previous reports, but variation both between studies and individual rabbits was apparent beyond this. Significant correlations between microbial families and live performance parameters were fouThis research was supported by the South African Research Chairs Initiative (SARChI) and partly funded by the South African Department of Science and Technology (UID number: 84633), as administered by the National Research Foundation (NRF) of South Africa, and partly by the Department of Trade and Industry’s THRIP programme (THRIP/64/19/04/2017) with Wildlife Ranching South Africa as partner. Any opinions, findings and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and the NRF accepts no liability in this regard. Personal funding for M. K. North was also provided by the NRF, in the form of a Scarce Skills Doctoral Scholarship (UID 102514). 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