Comparison between Coliform Populations at Different Sites of the Intestinal Tract of Pigs

Abstract

The coliform populations collected from different parts of the digestive tract were studied in six healthy pigs sacri ced on day 28 post weaning. Digesta were collected from six de ned locations of the intestinal tract of these pigs. These spots were; the proximal and distal parts of the jejunum; ileum; caecum; colon, and rectum. The aim was to study how well the rectal coliform ora re ects the ora at other parts of the intestinal tract. The coliforms at each site were enumerated, and it was found that the number of coliforms per gram digesta increased through the passage of the intestinal tract. The density was highest in the samples collected from rectum. Twenty-four coliform isolates from each site were phenotyped using the PhenePlate system. The phenotypic diversities of the coliforms were quite high at all sites (median diversity indices ranged from 0.85 to 0.88). The coliform oras collected at different sites of the intestinal tract were compared with the rectal ora, and the proportions of identical strains at different sites were fairly high. The homogeneity between the coliform populations of different pigs increased through the intestine, and was highest among the samples collected from rectum. Still, it was concluded that phenotyping several rectal isolates was a relevant method to mirror also the anterior intestinal micro ora. However, the results obtained also visualised the complexity of the intestinal bacterial ora, and indicate that important constituents of that ora might be lost if to few isolates are scrutinised.

Influence of Cereal Non-Starch Polysaccharides on Ileo-Caecal and Rectal Microbial Populations in Growing Pigs

“…The influence of the different diets on the coliform diversity was less clear in the rectum than at the ileo-caecal ostium. This could be due to the higher density of bacteria in the rectum compared to at the ileo-caecal ostium [37]. It may be more difficult to manipulate a dense microbial population, and this might have contributed to the different observations made in the coliform populations located at the ileo-caecal ostium and in the rectum.…”