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Exposure to known and emerging groundwater contaminants significantly alters poultry microbiome and metabolome
Summary
Researchers exposed broiler chickens to low-level mixtures of agricultural chemicals and microplastics via contaminated groundwater and found that gut microbial communities and metabolic pathways were significantly altered — including disrupted energy metabolism and cofactor availability — without observable intestinal damage, revealing a form of subclinical dysbiosis.
Environmental contaminants in groundwater are increasingly common, yet their combined effects on animal health remain poorly understood. The current study shows that even low-level exposure to agricultural chemical mixtures and microplastics can alter the gut microbial metabolism in broiler chickens without intestinal damage. These subclinical shifts, characterized by altered energy pathways, cofactor scarcity, and microbial restructuring, highlight a form of silent dysbiosis. Our findings emphasize the need to integrate microbiome- metabolic endpoints into environmental risk assessments to predict earlier, more meaningful, functionally relevant impacts.