Evaluation of feed processing and feed additives on diet digestibility and the microbiome of ruminants and horses.

Studies in humans and other species have highlighted the role that diet and the microbiome play in health and disease. Similarly, we are becoming more aware of how critical the gastrointestinal microbes are to the health and performance of common domestic species. Hence, a healthy gastrointestinal tract is vitally important to animal health, welfare and performance, and maintenance of the delicate symbiotic relationship between the microflora and their host is imperative. Understanding the host-microbe relationship may afford opportunities to make more effective management decisions designed to improve animal health and productivity, and to manipulate the microbial ecosystem to improve animal nutrition, performance and behaviour. Recent work has started to evaluate the microbiome in ruminants and horses to try and further our understanding of the roles that these gut microbes play in mediating the delicate balance between health and disease, diet digestibility, animal performance and behaviour. However, further work is required to investigate the effects of feed processing, diet composition and feed additives on the animal’s microbial community, and will be the principal focus of this PhD project. The project, based within the School of Veterinary Medicine (which is ranked Number 1 in the UK for the quality of veterinary research), will use a combination of in vivo and in vitro approaches, ranging from modelling fermentation in vitro, through to in sacco and whole animal digestibility studies. This will be coupled with novel next generation sequencing analyses to investigate the gastrointestinal tract microbiome. All of these studies will aim to inform refinements to feeding strategies that will optimise animal performance, whilst maintaining or improving gut health and animal welfare.

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