Beneficial properties and mechanistic study of the medicinal plant, Bidens pilosa, for host health, growth and gut microbiota

Edible plants and their compounds are now re-emerging as alternative medicine for human and animal health. An Asteraceae medicinal plant, B. pilosa, has been studied for over 40 diseases. In this presentation, we summarize the beneficial properties and mechanistic study of B. pilosa, based on our recent studies. First, we found that B. pilosa was therapeutically effective against coccidiosis in chickens as evidenced by a survival rate, gut pathology, fecal oocyst excretion and anti-coccidial index. Next, we showed that B. pilosa significantly increased body weight gain and decreased feed conversion ratio in chickens. Compared to anti-coccidial drugs, B. pilosa developed, if any, little drug resistance. Next, we performed pyrosequencing of the PCR ampilcons based on the 16S rRNA genes of gut bacteria in chickens. Metagenomic analysis indicated that the chicken gut bacteria belonged to 6 phyla, 6 classes, 6 orders, 9 families, and 8 genera. More importantly, we found that B. pilosa affected the composition of bacteria. This change in bacteria composition was correlated with body weight gain, feed conversion ratio and gut pathology in chickens. Collectively, our work suggests that B. pilosa has beneficial effects on growth performance and protozoan infection in chickens probably via multiple mechanisms, including prebiotic action and interference with protozoan life cycle.