家畜の暑熱ストレス耐性と腸内環境～環境保全型畜産管理に貢献する好熱菌の機能性評価～

2026-02-10 理化学研究所,九州大学,広島大学,北里大学

本研究の概要

<関連情報>

• https://www.riken.jp/press/2026/20260210_1/index.html
• https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s42523-026-00520-5

好熱性バチルス科で発酵させた堆肥は、腸内微生物の調節を通じて産卵鶏の熱ストレスによる死亡率を低下させる Compost fermented with thermophilic Bacillaceae reduces heat stress–induced mortality in laying hens through gut microbial modulation

Yudai Inabu,Hirokuni Miyamoto,Hideyuki Takahashi,Tamotsu Kato,Shigeharu Moriya,Atsushi Kurotani,Haruki Yamano,Teruno Nakaguma,Naoko Tsuji,Chitose Ishii,Makiko Matsuura,Satoshi Wada,Takashi Satoh,Motoaki Udagawa,Hisashi Miyamoto,Jun Kikuchi,Hiroaki Kodama & Hiroshi Ohno
Animal Microbiome  Published:03 February 2026
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1186/s42523-026-00520-5

Abstract

Background

Heat stress (HS) adversely affects poultry health and productivity. Recently, it has been suggested that the gut microbiota may play a role in host resilience to HS, although the details of its mechanism remain unclear. Here, the heat tolerance-related effects of dietary supplementation of compost fermented by the thermophile Bacillaceae were explored using a laying hen model (601,474 hens in total).

Results

In a field study conducted during the summer (maximum temperatures of approximately 35 °C) in eleven hen houses, oral administration of the compost extract resulted in a statistically significant reduction in mortality. Difference-in-differences analysis revealed that the abundances of the genera Lachnospiraceae NK3A20 group, Enterococcus, Ruminococcus 2, Blautia, Lactobacillus, Christensenellaceae R-7 group, and Tyzzerella 4 were significantly increased by compost administration, whereas those of the Prevotellaceae NK3B31 group, Prevotella 9, Romboutsia, Turicibacter, and Escherichia–Shigella were significantly reduced. In addition, to evaluate the relationship between short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) metabolic profiles and the gut bacterial population, factor analysis combined with feature selection based on multiple machine learning (ML) algorithms was performed. The resulting optimal structural equation model suggested that compost administration led to increases in the levels of the SCFAs acetate and butyrate, as well as decreases in the levels of the genera Romboutsia and Turicibacter.

Conclusion

Oral administration of thermophile-fermented compost to laying hens alleviated HS-induced mortality. Integrative computational evaluations further revealed that the reduction in mortality was linked to structural changes in the gut microbiota composition and SCFA concentrations.