{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,1]],"date-time":"2026-06-01T20:02:35Z","timestamp":1780344155757,"version":"3.54.1"},"reference-count":50,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"9","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,8,25]],"date-time":"2025-08-25T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1756080000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100013058","name":"Jiangsu Provincial Key Research and Development Program","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["BE2022359"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["BE2022359"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100013058","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100013058","name":"Jiangsu Provincial Key Research and Development Program","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["NSF2023ZR03"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["NSF2023ZR03"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100013058","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"name":"Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Agri-animal Husbandry Vocational College","award":["BE2022359"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["BE2022359"]}]},{"name":"Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Agri-animal Husbandry Vocational College","award":["NSF2023ZR03"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["NSF2023ZR03"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Veterinary Sciences"],"abstract":"<jats:p>This study was conducted to investigate the effects of a Chinese herbal medicine compound microecological agent (C-MEA) on the egg production performance, ovarian follicle development, ovary transcriptome, and cecal microbiota of caged laying ducks. A total of 108 black Muscovy ducks (150 days old) were randomly divided into three groups for 30 days in a formal feeding trial. Compared with the control basic diet (Group C) and 16 g\/kg C-MEA dosage (Group B), the 8 g\/kg C-MEA dosage (Group A) increased egg production (average laying rate 69.35%) and follicle development (5~7 Fs, 6~7 LYFs, 11~13 SYFs) mass (p &lt; 0.05). According to RNA-Seq, the ovaries\u2019 transcriptome among different dietary groups enriched six key pathways, including neuroactive ligand\u2013receptor interaction, the PPAR signaling pathway, ECM\u2013receptor interaction, focal adhesion, the adherens junction, and the FoxO signaling pathway, as well as 46 candidate key genes. According to 16S-Seq, the microbial diversity was significantly increased in Group A, and the genus abundances of Sphaerochaeta and UCG-004 were significantly changed among different dietary groups (p &lt; 0.05). Supplementation with C-MEA may optimize the cecal microflora and the interactions between the intestinal microflora and the host. The results from combining RNA-Seq and 16S-Seq demonstrated that the relationship between Sphaerochaeta and the hub gene cluster (F2, KNG1, C5, PLG, F2RL1, FABP1, and GCG) is the most prominent. In conclusion, the egg performance of caged laying ducks can be modulated through the microbiota\u2013gut\u2013ovary axis. Our findings provide new insights for improving gut health and reproductive performance of caged laying ducks.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/vetsci12090808","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,8,26]],"date-time":"2025-08-26T06:26:31Z","timestamp":1756189591000},"page":"808","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["Chinese Herbal Medicine Compound Microecological Agent (C-MEA) Improves Egg Production Performance in Caged Laying Ducks via Microbiota\u2013Gut\u2013Ovary Axis"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"12","author":[{"given":"Yanfeng","family":"Lu","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Animal Science and Technology, Jiangsu Agri-Animal Husbandry Vocational College, Taizhou 225300, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0001-3456-3405","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Lei","family":"Zhang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Animal Science and Technology, Jiangsu Agri-Animal Husbandry Vocational College, Taizhou 225300, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Rui","family":"Zhu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Animal Science and Technology, Jiangsu Agri-Animal Husbandry Vocational College, Taizhou 225300, China"},{"name":"Jiangsu Key Laboratory for High-Tech Research and Development of Veterinary Biopharmaceuticals, Engineering Technology Research Center for Modern Animal Science and Novel Veterinary Pharmaceutic Development, Taizhou 225300, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Xiujun","family":"Duan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Animal Science and Technology, Jiangsu Agri-Animal Husbandry Vocational College, Taizhou 225300, China"},{"name":"Jiangsu Key Laboratory for High-Tech Research and Development of Veterinary Biopharmaceuticals, Engineering Technology Research Center for Modern Animal Science and Novel Veterinary Pharmaceutic Development, Taizhou 225300, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Guobo","family":"Sun","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Animal Science and Technology, Jiangsu Agri-Animal Husbandry Vocational College, Taizhou 225300, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yuying","family":"Jiang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Animal Science and Technology, Jiangsu Agri-Animal Husbandry Vocational College, Taizhou 225300, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,8,25]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"25","DOI":"10.15302\/J-FASE-2020363","article-title":"Egg production in China: Current status and outlook","volume":"8","author":"Yang","year":"2021","journal-title":"Front. 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