The conventional wisdom among scientists has long been that birds acquire the intestinal bacteria that are a necessary for good health from their environment, but a new University of Georgia study finds that chickens are actually born with those bacteria.
Lead author Adriana Pedroso said the finding, presented at the 108th General Meeting of the American Society for Microbiology in Boston, could have important implications for the poultry industry and for food safety.
“Understanding the microbial ecology of the developing chicken is the first step toward producing healthy birds without antibiotics,” said Pedroso, a post-doctoral researcher in the UGA College of Veterinary Medicine.
Pedroso and her colleagues incubated more than 300 eggs and dipped them into a light bleach solution before extracting the embryos using sterile tools. DNA analysis revealed a diverse community of bacteria within the intestines of the developing embryos. Pedroso and her colleagues hypothesize that the bacteria penetrate the surface of the shell to the egg white, which is then ingested by the developing embryo.
Study co-author John Maurer, professor of avian medicine, said the findings could lead to better methods for promoting growth of poultry and for reducing the risk of food borne illness. He explained that as the poultry industry has moved away from the use of growth promoting antibiotics in recent years, it increasingly relies on administering probiotics – beneficial intestinal bacteria – to newly hatched chicks. Establishing a community of healthy bacteria in the birds is thought to make it more difficult for pathogenic bacteria to establish themselves, but studies on the effectiveness of probiotics have shown mixed results. Maurer said it appears now that the timing of probiotic administration is important.
“Currently, most probiotics are administered after the chicks have hatched,” Maurer said. “But our study suggest we might need to administer probiotics in ovo (in the egg) to get better results.”
The idea that embryos are sterile in the egg and that chicks acquire their intestinal bacteria after hatching goes back to the 1960s, when early experiments using bacterial cultures – often Petri dishes with a growth medium – failed to grow any bacteria. Newer DNA techniques such as those Pedroso and her colleagues used are much more sensitive, however, and aren’t influenced by how well a bacterium grows in a dish.
“Previous assumptions were based on the use of cell cultures,” Pedroso said, “but we now know that only 1 percent of bacteria in the biosphere can be cultured.”
Source: American Society for Microbiology
Related stories:
New study shows health benefits of probiotic could extend to the entire body
Data from a recent study demonstrate the anti-inflammatory and pathogen protection benefits of
Bifidobacterium infantis 35624 a probiotic bacterial strain of human origin. Gastrointestinal benefits of probiotics have been well-documented, but more and more research is revealing that probiotic benefits extend to the entire body. The report was published in the August issue of the
Public Library of Science (PLoS) Pathogens.
Study on salmonella self-destruction
ETH Zurich biologists, led by Professors Martin Ackermann and Wolf-Dietrich Hardt, in collaboration with Michael Doebeli of the University of British Colombia in Vancouver (CN), have been able to describe how random molecular processes during cell division allow some cells to engage in a self-destructive act to generate a greater common good, thereby improving the situation of the surviving siblings.
Chemical liberated by leaky gut may allow HIV to infect the brain
In up to 20 percent of people infected with HIV, the virus manages to escape from the bloodstream and cross into the brain, resulting in HIV-associated dementia and other cognitive disorders. Now, scientists at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University have found strong evidence that a component of the cell walls of intestinal bacteria—a chemical present in high levels in the blood of HIV-infected people—helps HIV to penetrate the usually-impregnable blood brain barrier (BBB). The findings, published in the August issue of the
Journal of Virology, could lead to strategies for preventing HIV from entering the brain and causing serious complications.
Hidden infections crucial to understanding, controlling disease outbreaks
(PhysOrg.com) -- Scientists and news organizations typically focus on the number of dead and gravely ill during epidemics, but research at the University of Michigan suggests that less dramatic, mild infections lurking in large numbers of people are the key to understanding cycles of at least one potentially fatal infectious disease: cholera.
Sesame seed extract and konjac gum may help ward off Salmonella and E. coli
A new study in SCI's
Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture shows that konjac gum and sesame seed extract may offer protection against different strains of E. coli and Salmonella bacteria.
Researchers use salmonella to administer vaccines
(PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers at the Biodesign Institute at Arizona State University have made a major step forward in their work to develop a biologically engineered organism that can effectively deliver an antigen in the body. The researchers report that they have been able to use live salmonella bacterium as the containment/delivery method for an antigen.
Prebiotic potential of almonds
Almonds, as well as being high in vitamin E and other minerals, are also thought to have other health benefits, such as reducing cholesterol. Recently published work by the Institute of Food Research has identified potential prebiotic properties of almonds that could help improve our digestive health by increasing levels of beneficial gut bacteria.
New cholera outbreaks in Vietnam: health official
Vietnam is experiencing new outbreaks of cholera, the health ministry said Friday, despite efforts since last year to eradicate the dangerous bacterial disease.