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Cui et al. Microbiome Res Rep. 2025;4:31 https://dx.doi.org/10.20517/mrr.2025.25 Page 5 of 14

Table 1. Microbial taxa reported to affect abdominal fat deposition in chickens in the past five years
Sampling ages and
Influence factors Phenotype Related gut microbial taxa Ref.
breeds
Succinate 21-day-old yellow-feathered Abdominal fat Blautia and Sellimonas Wang et al.
broiler deposition (2024) [10]
Coated sodium 42-day-old broiler Alistipes, Lactobacillus, Bifidobacterium, Lachnospiraceae and Wang et al.
propionate Helicobacter (2021) [11]
Corncob meal 135-day-old yellow- Akkermansia, Phascolarctobacterium, Rikenellaceae, Cui et al.
[12]
feathered broiler Faecalibacterium (2022)
Host genetics 78-day-old yellow-feathered Methanobrevibacter, Mucispirillum schaedleri Wen et al.
broiler (2019) [30]
Higher and lower 1, 4, and 12 months of age Sphaerochaeta, Parabacteroides, Parasutterella, Oscillibacter, Chen et al.
[31]
abdominal fat turpan cockfighting × white Anaerofustis (2023)
leghorn
Age-associated 14, 28, and 42-day-old Coprobacillus, Shigella, Butyricicoccus Liu et al.
changes broiler (2023) [32]
Folic acid 28-day-old broiler Alistipes, Oscillospira, Ruminococcus, Clostridium, Liu et al.
[33]
Dehalobacterium, Parabacteroides (2023)
Folic acid 28-day-old broiler Lactobacillus, Clostridium, Dehalobacterium Liu et al.
[34]
(2024)
Fermented grape 56-day-old yellow-feathered Bacteroidetes, Firmicutes Nan et al.
[35]
seed meal broiler (2022)
Phytosterols 42-day-old broiler Lactobacillus Dai et al.
[36]
(2023)
Corn resistant starch 21-day-old broiler Bacteroidetes, Firmicutes Zhang et al.
[37]
(2020)
Anoectochilus 63-day-old yellow-feathered Bacteroidetes, Firmicutes Wu et al.
[38]
roxburghii extract broiler (2023)
Echinocystic acid 1-day-old K901 broiler Bacteroidetes, Firmicutes Xiao et al.
[39]
(2025)
Lactococcus G423 21, and 42-day-old broiler Lactobacillus, Firmicutes Wang et al.
(2024) [40]
Lean- and fat-line 49-day-old broiler Escherichia coli, Candidatus Acetothermia bacterium, Jing et al.
broilers Alistipes sp, Ruminococcaceae bacterium, (2021) [41]
Clostridiales bacterium, Anaeromassilibacillus sp.
Obese and lean 160-day-old broiler Erysipelatoclostridium Liu et al.
[42]
chickens (shouguang, luqin) (2022)
Two native breeds 42-day-old AA and 82-day- Lactobacillus Lei et al.
[43]
old beijing-you broiler (2022)
Different abdominal 125-day-old tiannong Bacteroidetes, Firmicutes, Parabacteroides, B. salanitronis, Xiang et al.
[44]
fat deposition partridge chicken B. fragilis, P. distasonis, Olsenella, Slackia, Methanobrevibacter (2021)
lipid metabolism. Accumulating evidence indicates that SCFAs regulate hepatic lipid homeostasis through
multiple molecular mechanisms. A critical pathway involves the inhibition of hepatic de novo lipogenesis via
the transcriptional downregulation of sterol regulatory element binding protein-1c (SREBP-1c), the master
regulator of lipogenic gene expression. By suppressing SREBP-1c-mediated lipogenic signaling, SCFAs
attenuate triglyceride synthesis, thereby ameliorating hepatic steatosis and potentially preventing the
pathogenesis of metabolic disorders, including NAFLD . Overall, SCFAs serve as key metabolic integrators
[49]
that bridge gut microbial activity with host lipid regulation, offering promising targets for therapeutic
strategies against metabolic disorders [Figure 2].

Bile acids and microbial enzymes
There are five main forms of bile acids: conjugated bile acids; primary bile acids, exemplified by cholic acid
and chenodeoxycholic acid; secondary bile acids, predominantly represented by deoxycholic acid and
[50]
lithocholic acid . Gut bacteria express bile salt hydrolases and other enzymes that deconjugate primary bile
acids and convert them into secondary bile acids, substantially altering the bile acid pool and host metabolic