Theses and Dissertations

Issuing Body

Mississippi State University

Advisor

Kiess, Aaron S.

Committee Member

McDaniel, Christopher D.

Committee Member

Wamsley, Kelley G.S.

Date of Degree

8-11-2017

Document Type

Graduate Thesis - Open Access

Major

Poultry Science

Degree Name

Master of Science

College

College of Agriculture and Life Sciences

Department

Department of Poultry Science

Abstract

Alternatives to antibiotic growth promoters have been widely exploited due to concerns about antimicrobial resistance. These feed additives improve growth, in part, by modulating intestinal microbiota. However, their impact on male reproductive performance is not well elucidated. Therefore, the objective of this study was to evaluate the impacts of a yeast fermentation product (YP) and Bacillus subtilis on rooster semen quality and microbiota. Dietary supplementation of YP linearly increased the concentration of yeast and bacteria in semen, whereas it linearly decreased sperm motility, suggesting that bacteria attached to yeast were excreted from the gut, contaminated semen at the cloaca and then decreased sperm movement. However, direct in vitro exposure of semen or dietary supplementation with B. subtilis did not affect semen quality or seminal concentration of this bacterium, likely because Bacillus naturally occur in semen. In conclusion, unlike B. subtilis, dietary YP can alter semen quality by altering semen microbiota.

URI

https://hdl.handle.net/11668/19914

Download

Share

COinS