Abstract

The scientific world became enthusiastic to develop the concept of ‘gut health’, ‘intestinal health’, and ‘enteric health’ specially after the banning of antibiotic growth promoter by European Union in poultry diet. The composition and functionality of the gut microbiome is crucial for the health of livestock and poultry as it helps in the development of intestinal epithelium and modulation of the physiological functions. Thus the intestinal homeostasis i.e. immunity, nutrient digestion, intestinal barrier integrity is maintained. The overall composition of microorganisms dwelling in the gastrointestinal tract is termed as ‘microbiome’ and due to its beneficial effects on health and well-being of host it has gained lot of attention in recent years. The present review describes gut microbiome composition in livestock and wild animals, effect of host genotype, human interference, environment on the composition of gut microbiome, detection techniques of gut microbiome composition, and implication and use of probiotics improving health and production in domestic animals.

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