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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Athens, Georgia » U.S. National Poultry Research Center » Poultry Microbiological Safety and Processing Research Unit » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #354134
Research Project: Novel Pre-harvest Interventions and Alternatives to Antibiotics to Reduce Foodborne Pathogens

Location: Poultry Microbiological Safety and Processing Research Unit

Title: Community-level physiological profiling in microbial communities of broiler cecae

Author
item Yeh, Hung-Yueh
item Line, John

Submitted to: Meeting Abstract
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 5/22/2018
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary: none

Technical Abstract: Poultry production constitutes one of important agricultural output worldwide. It is known that the gut health of broilers is essential for their growth and for providing wholesome products for human consumption. Previously, the microbial diversity of broiler cecae was studied at the microbial genetic level. However, the functional diversity and metabolic activity of broiler cecal microbial communities are not fully investigated. Recently, the EcoPlates™ from Biolog, Inc. have been used for characterizing microbial communities in various environments. In this communication, we applied these plates to physiologically profile cecal microbial communities in broilers. The cecae were aseptically excised from six-week-old birds, and their contents were resuspended in phosphate buffered saline. The EcoPlates were used according to the manufacturer's instructions. The cultures were incubated at 42 oC for five days in an OmniLog system from Biolog, Inc. Responses of the microbial communities to uses of the various carbon sources were measured on formazin production. The data of average well color development (AWCD) were calculated. The AWCD data for positive substrates showed the sigmoidal curve with three phases: lag, exponential and stationary. The results showed responses of cecal microbial communities to carbon sources differed among broilers. The positive substrate utilizations included '-methyl-D-glucoside, D-mannitol, L-serine, L-threonine, glycogen, D-cellobiose, glucose-1-phosphate, and beta-D-lactose. These results provide insight of the potential heterotrophic microbial community in broiler cecae, and a rationale for further evaluation of this technique to assess microbial community characteristics leading to improving management in poultry production.