Comparison of bacterial populations of the pig cecum and colon based upon enumeration with specific energy sources

Abstract

Concentrations of bacteria in the ceca and colons of pigs were measured by determinations of colony counts on rumen fluid-based media in anaerobic roll tubes. With our most complete medium (medium CCA), the mean colony count of cecal samples from 20 pigs was 2.37 x 10'°± 1.0 x 1010 (± standard deviation)/ g (wet weight). The mean number of bacteria attached to or associated with cecal epithelial tissues from three pigs on medium CCA was 2.67 x 107 ± 0.81 x 107/ cm2 of tissue. The proportions of gut bacterial populations able to use various energy substrates were estimated on the basis of relative colony counts. The following substrates are listed in descending order of their capacity to support growth of cecal bacteria: glucose, starch, cellobiose, xylose, Trypticase, gastric mucin from swine, mannitol, glycerol, and lactate. The effect of diet upon this distribution was not examined. The relative proportions of bacteria from a given population that were able to grow on various selective media were used as population profiles. Comparisons of populations in this way indicated that differences could be detected between (i) populations from the cecum of littermate pigs, (ii) populations from the cecum and colon of the same pig, and (iii) populations in the lumen of the cecum as compared with populations associated with cecal mucosa.

Probiotic roles ofLactobacillussp. in swine: insights from gut microbiota

“…Early culture-dependent techniques attempted to quantify and list the microbes inhabiting the porcine gut. Microbial populations within the GIT were consistently estimated to reach 10 11 per gram of tissue, 10 10 per gram of luminal contents and 10 10 per gram of faeces (Allison et al 1979;Russell 1979). The advent of studies describing the gastrointestinal microbiome of pigs using 16S rDNA sequence data addressed the limitations of culturedependent approaches, in particular the underestimation of noncultivable members of the population.…”

Health‐beneficial effects of probiotics: Its mode of action

“…The principal regions of bacterial colonization in pigs are the ileum and the large intestine (Jensen & Jørgensen 1994). The numbers of bacteria in the ileum and the large intestine are up to 10 9 ∼10 12 /g content (Allison et al. 1979).…”

Characterization of dominant cultivable lactobacilli and their antibiotic resistance profiles from faecal samples of weaning piglets

“…The intestinal microbiota of pigs, including lactobacilli, has been widely studied during recent decades using standard microbiological methods and phenotypic analysis of isolates (Salanitro et al. 1977; Allison et al. 1979; Moore et al.…”