ABSTRACT.
The study presents the associations between the gut microbiome composition and the essential macro- and trace elements accumulation in the liver and muscle tissue of broiler chickens. Metagenomic analysis of the
chicken cecum revealed two alternative microbiome patterns, the first of which was characterized by the Bacteroidota
phylum dominance, and the second was enriched in the Bacillota phylum, supplemented by the Actinomycetota, Cyanobacteriota and Thermodesulfobacteriota phyla members. Biosubstrates from broiler chickens belonging to the Bacteroidota-dominant or Bacillota-enriched microbiome patterns showed significantly different contents for most of the
analyzed chemical elements: Al, As, B, Ca, Cd, Co, Cu, Fe, I, K, Mg, Mn, Na, Ni, P, Pb, Se, Sn, Sr and Zn versus to Cr,
Si and V, respectively. These data demonstrate complex relationships in the “gut microbiome – host elemental status”
system that need to be taken into account for relevant basic and applied biomedical research.
KEYWORDS: macro- and trace elements, gut microbiome, broiler chickens.