1. A newly isolated Bacillus coagulans strain as probiotic was assayed as the only dietary additive for chickens. 2. Chickens receiving no additive at all or only virginiamycin were used for comparison. 3. Two trials each carried out on 75 chickens showed that, in terms of efficacy in growth and food conversion ratio, the B. coagulans biomass as a probiotic had a growth-promoting, prophylactic effect comparable to that of virginiamycin.

Fifty-six strains of Basidiomycetes, including native Brazilian fungi isolated from different ecosystems and edible mushrooms, were screened for production of exopolysaccharides and biomass in submerged culture. Agaricus sp. (CCB 280) and Oudemansiella canarii (Jungh.) Hohn (CCB 179) were the highest exopolysaccharide producers (6.01 and 3.54 g dry w./l respectively) after 7 days of incubation. The best producer of biomass was Schizophyllum commune Fr.:Fr. (CCB 473) with 16.68 g dry w./l in 14 days of incubation. When the culture filtrate was submitted to freezing prior to polysaccharide precipitation, a gelatinous fraction was formed.

A microbiological analysis of piglet faeces was performed on samples collected from animals fed a diet without any additive, animals fed a diet that contained Bacillus coagulans CNCMI-1061 as probiotic, and animals fed a diet that contained Zn-bacitracin. The analysis was carried out in concurrence with a zootechnical trial. Selected bacterial groups (lactic acid bacteria, lacotococci, enterococci, aerobic and anaerobic cocci, total and faecal coliforms, clostridia, bacteroides, bifidobacteria) were determined at day 1 and after 1, 4 and 10 weeks of life. Numbers of enterococci, coliforms (especially faecal coliforms) showed a decrease over time with probiotic, more evident than with the antibiotic. Daily administration of B. coagulans allowed this bacterium to become integrated into the enteric microflora where it is transient. These results seem to show a positive effect of B. coagulans addition on cocci and faecal coliforms. We suggest that this probiotic may represent an alternative to antibiotics.

The extracellular form of the K5 polysaccharide was produced, purified and characterized from a strain of Escherichia coli, the maximum fermentation yield (320 mg/L) was obtained after 15 h. The polysaccharide, recovered by precipitation with cold ethanol (80%), was purified through a pro cess employing an enzymic deproteination step using fungal protease. Charac terization by TLC and GC chromatography revealed that the K5 was mainly composed of glucuronic acid and N-acetyl-glucosamine. The 13C-NMR spectrum showed the product's structure to be the same as that of the K5 capsular polysaccharide described in the literature.

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