Topic: Probiotics and Gut Microbiota in Animals: From Mechanistic Insights to Practical Applications

This Special Issue focuses on the cutting-edge research surrounding probiotics and gut microbiota in animals, including livestock, companion animals, and laboratory models. It aims to explore the core value of probiotics in promoting animal health and sustainable farming practices by bridging fundamental discoveries with industrial applications. Through a comprehensive exploration of the entire innovation chain—from precise probiotic screening to functional evaluation and practical deployment—this issue will offer both theoretical insights and practical guidance for the development of the animal health industry.

Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:

1. Precision Screening Strategies for Probiotics Across Animal Life Stages:
Investigations into the dynamic features of gut microbiota at different life stages (juvenile, growing, adult) or disease states in animals, highlighting stage-specific probiotic needs. Emphasis will be placed on microbiota-based targeted screening strategies to support the development of personalized probiotic formulations.

2. New Evaluation Systems for Animal Probiotics:
Development of multi-dimensional in vitro, in vivo, and molecular biology-based assessment systems that integrate safety, efficacy, and stability indicators. This will support the establishment of comprehensive standards and improve quality control of probiotic products.

3. Mechanistic Insights into Probiotic Function in Animals:
Use of metagenomics, metabolomics, and single-cell sequencing to investigate how probiotics regulate gut microbial balance, enhance immune functions, and facilitate nutrient absorption at the molecular level, including gene expression, metabolic pathways, and signaling mechanisms.

4. Probiotic Product Development and Microbiota-Health Interactions:
Case studies of novel probiotics with specialized functions (e.g., anti-stress, anti-infection, meat quality improvement) and their application in livestock, poultry, and aquaculture. Studies are encouraged on long-term field evaluations, product optimization, and the interplay between probiotics, gut microbiota, and animal health/performance—particularly on colonization patterns and the remodeling of microbial structures and functions.

This Special Issue welcomes original research, reviews, and case studies that contribute to the advancement of probiotics science and gut microbiota research in animals.

Animal probiotics, gut microbiota, livestock health, microbiome modulation, precision nutrition, metagenomics, probiotic screening, microbial ecology, animal performance, functional evaluation