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ARS Home » Plains Area » College Station, Texas » Southern Plains Agricultural Research Center » Food and Feed Safety Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #381803
Research Project: Identification of the Ecological Niches and Development of Intervention Strategies to Reduce Pathogenic Foodborne Pathogens in Poultry

Location: Food and Feed Safety Research

Title: Competitive exclusion of intra-genus Salmonella in neonatal broilers

Author
item PINEDA, MEGAN - Texas A&M Agrilife
item Kogut, Michael - Mike
item Genovese, Kenneth - Ken
item FARNELL, YUHUA - Texas A&M Agrilife
item ZHAO, DAN - Texas A&M Agrilife
item WANG, XI - Texas A&M Agrilife
item MILBY, ALLISON - Texas A&M Agrilife
item FARNELL, MORGAN - Texas A&M Agrilife

Submitted to: Microorganisms
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 2/19/2021
Publication Date: 2/21/2021
Citation: Pineda, M., Kogut, M.H., Genovese, K.J., Farnell, Y.Z., Zhao, D., Wang, X., Milby, A., Farnell, M. 2021. Competitive exclusion of intra-genus Salmonella in neonatal broilers. Microorganisms. 9(2). Article 446. https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms9020446.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms9020446

Interpretive Summary: Salmonella colonization of the chicken gut is a major concern for poultry producers and represents a possible route of contamination of poultry products with foodborne illness-associated Salmonella species. In these experiments, one species of Salmonella was used to prevent the colonization and infection of neonatal chickens by other species of Salmonella. When one Salmonella species was administered to chicks prior to another Salmonella species, significant reductions in gut colonization by the second species was found. In addition, numerous inflammatory immune molecules were found to be stimulated by the administration of the Salmonella species prior to another species. These studies show that Salmonella species may be used to block the colonization of the chicken gut by foodborne illness-inducing species of Salmonella.

Technical Abstract: Salmonellosis is a zoonotic infection caused by Salmonella enterica species in contaminated poultry products. We hypothesized that competitive exclusion between Salmonella serovars in neonatal broilers would reduce colonization and affect the host immune response. The treatments were (1) negative control, (2) Salmonella Kentucky (SK) only on day 1 (D1), (3) Salmonella Typhimurium (ST) or Salmonella Enteritidis (SE) only on D1, (4) SK on D1 then ST or SE on day 2 (D2), (5) ST or SE on D1 then SK on D2, and (6) SK and ST or SE concurrently. Significant differences were determined via ANOVA (P < 0.05). Salmonella gut colonization and incidence were measured from cecal contents. Liver and spleen were combined and macerated to determine systemic translocation from the gut. Furthermore, relative mRNA levels of IL-1ß, IL-6, IL-10, and IL-18 expression were measured in cecal tonsils and liver by qRT-PCR to investigate the local and systemic immune responses. When a serovar was administered first, it was able to significantly reduce colonization of the following serovar. Significant changes were found in local and systemic mRNA expression of IL-1ß, IL-6, IL-10, and IL-18. These results suggest competitive exclusion by Salmonella enterica species affect the local and systemic immune response.