Dynamic alterations in early intestinal development, microbiota and metabolome induced by in ovo feeding of L-arginine in a layer chick model

Table 4 Effects of in ovo feeding of L-arginine on cecal microbial diversity of layer chicks

Item¹	NC	Arg6	Arg10	Pooled SEM	P-value
3 d
Shannon	1.77^b	2.38^a	2.34^a	0.08	< 0.001
Simpson	0.28^a	0.18^b	0.16^b	0.02	0.004
ACE	98.23^b	126.66^a	111.20^ab	4.91	0.041
Chao1	94.31^b	115.66^a	99.39^ab	3.81	0.043
14 d
Shannon	3.37	3.31	3.63	0.09	0.314
Simpson	0.10	0.11	0.07	0.01	0.291
ACE	256.11	265.12	254.81	5.21	0.711
Chao1	263.88	265.07	258.82	5.45	0.893
42 d
Shannon	3.48	3.76	3.37	0.10	0.307
Simpson	0.12	0.09	0.11	0.01	0.571
ACE	450.28	457.42	460.07	5.92	0.779
Chao1	453.91	455.76	460.65	7.22	0.925

^a–bMeans within a row with no common superscripts differ significantly (P < 0.05). Data are the mean of 7 replicates. ¹NC, non-injected control group; Arg6, injected with 6 mg L-arginine; Arg10, injected with 10 mg L-arginine

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