Spatial Variation of the Gut Microbiota in Broiler Chickens as Affected by Dietary Available Phosphorus and Assessed by T-RFLP Analysis and 454 Pyrosequencing.

Molecular fingerprinting and sequencing based techniques have been widely used to characterize microbial communities. Terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (T-RFLP) and 454-pyrosequencing were used to determine the microorganisms present in the different sections of the chicken gastrointestinal tract (GIT) (crop, jejunum, ileum and caeca). Broilers fed with diets differing in phosphorous (P) and calcium (Ca) as well as in phytase levels were used to study the microbiota of the upper and lower part of the GIT.