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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 #171857
Title: LIMITING AVIAN GASTROINTESTINAL TRACT SALMONELLA COLONIZATION BY CECAL ANAEROBIC BACTERIA, AND A POTENTIAL ROLE FOR METHANOGENS

Author
item RICKE, S - TX A&M UNIVERSITY
item WOODWARD, C - TX A&M UNIVERSITY
item Kwon, Young
item Kubena, Leon
item Nisbet, David

Submitted to: Preharvest and Postharvest Food Safety
Publication Type: Book / Chapter
Publication Acceptance Date: 12/18/2003
Publication Date: 5/3/2004
Citation: Ricke, S.C., Woodward, C.L., Kwon, Y.M., Kubena, L.F., Nisbet, D.J. 2004. Limiting avian gastrointestinal tract Salmonella colonization by cecal anaerobic bacteria, and a potential role for methanogens. In: Beier, R.C., Pillai, S.D., Phillips, T.D., Ziprin, R.L., editors. Preharvest and Postharvest Food Safety: Contemporary Issues and Future Directions. Ames, IA: Blackwell Publishing Professional. p. 141-150.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Adult chickens possess a stable cecal microflora that is relatively resistant to infection by nonindigenous pathogens such as foodborne salmonellae. Yet, there are circumstances where the stability of the adult cecal microflora has been identified as sufficiently compromised to no longer limit pathogen colonization in poultry. However, because the understanding of cecal microbial ecology remains elusive, there is still considerable debate as to what mechanisms are responsible for retaining stable microbial cecal populations. This debate will not be resolved until a complete picture of cecal ecology in the adult chicken is established. Of the microbial anaerobic fermentation pathways occurring in the cecum, methane formation in adult birds may be a key microbial process and could serve as an indicator of stabilized anaerobic cecal populations in chickens. However, because of the difficulties associated with their isolation, methanogens have been overlooked when cecal microflora have been characterized. When methanogens become an established part of the cecal microflora and what characteristics in the cecal microenvironment are associated with the stability of methanogen populations are important issues that remain to be resolved.