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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 #126463

Title: CAMPYLOBACTER COLI PULSED FIELD GEL ELECTROPHORESIS GENOTYPIC DIVERSITY AMONG SOWS AND PIGLETS IN A FARROWING BARN

Author
item Hume, Michael
item Droleskey, Robert - Bob
item Harvey, Roger

Submitted to: Current Microbiology
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 12/7/2001
Publication Date: 7/1/2002
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary: The bacterium Campylobacter was collected from feces of three mother pigs and the rectum of seventeen piglets from a pig growing operation. The Campylobacter were grown on growth materials. Five individual bacteria were picked from each animal and the gene types they contained were examined for relatedness. Several pigs each contained bacteria of more than one gene type. Although some piglets were related to the mother pigs in the study and some of the piglets were from the same litter, there was no pattern of shared bacterial gene types between piglets and their respective mothers and between piglets from the same litter. Results indicate that a high number of Campylobacter gene types may coexist in pigs from a single grower facility. Data suggest the need to examine multiple Campylobacter from the same animal to obtain a more valid profile of the gene types within that animal.

Technical Abstract: Genotypes of Campylobacter coli isolates from feces of three sows and rectal swabs of seventeen piglets were examined by pulsed field gel electrophoresis (PFGE). All of the animals originated from a single farrowing barn of a farrow-to-finish swine operation. Five Campylobacter colonies were picked from a single agar plate for each sample following broth enrichment and growth on Campy-Cefex agar. Genotypes were examined by PFGE after genomic DNA digestion with SmaI and SacII restriction endonucleases. Twenty SmaI genotypes and twelve SacII genotypes were detected among ninety-nine C. coli isolates. There was no pattern of shared genotypes between sows and their respective piglets, nor between littermates. Results indicate that a high number of Campylobacter genotypes may coexist in related pigs from a single housing facility.