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Abstract
This study compares the effects of growth-promoting antibiotic, probiotic, and other commercial diets on the community structures of intestinal bacterial flora in chickens. Bacterial communities in the intestines of chickens are investigated using terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (TRFLP) analysis targeting the 16S ribosomal DNA. TRFLP is compared with the clone sequence method, and the two methods are shown to be statistically close, but not equivalent. PCR products for a species are shown to be almost exactly associated with amount in the DNA template. The diversities in the chickens fed with corn-soy are shown to be significantly greater than those fed probiotics or growth promotants. There are lower amounts of Lactobacillaceae, but higher amount of Clostridiaceae in the treated chickens than in chickens fed only with corn-soy. These analyses indicate that different diets, especially with respect to the addition of antibiotics, cause significant alterations in microbial community structures.