Management Practices Affecting Lesser Mealworm Larvae () Associated Microbial Community in a Broiler House and After Relocating With the Litter Into Pastureland.

Lesser mealworms are often found infesting production houses used to raise broiler chickens. Previous studies have investigated pathogenic microorganisms associated with the larvae, but a more thorough study relating total microbiome changes due to management procedures and flock rotations was needed. Additionally, there is a question of what microbiota are transferred into the environment when the litter, in which larvae reside, is piled in pastureland for use as fertilizer and where interactions with the soil and other fauna can occur.

Adult Microbial Community during Broiler Production and in Spent Litter after Stockpiling.

The facilities used to raise broiler chickens are often infested with litter beetles (lesser mealworm, ). These beetles have been studied for their carriage of pathogenic microbes; however, a more comprehensive microbiome study on these arthropods is lacking. This study investigated their microbial community in a longitudinal study throughout 2.

Poultry litter and the environment: Microbial profile of litter during successive flock rotations and after spreading on pastureland.

With the increasing demand for broiler meat, a thorough evaluation of the microbial community within the broiler houses and sites where litter is deposited is critical to animal and environmental wellbeing. However not much is known in this arena, so our work evaluates the litter bacterial microbial community within a house over a 2.5 year period through 11 flock rotations, a partial and a total cleanout, and the subsequent deposition of the litter as fertilizer on pastureland.

How Management Practices Within a Poultry House During Successive Flock Rotations Change the Structure of the Soil Microbiome.

The microbiome within a poultry production house influences the attainment of physiologically strong birds and thus food safety and public health. Yet little is known about the microbial communities within the house and the effects on the soil microbes onto which the houses are placed; nor the effects of management practices on their equilibrium. This study looked at the soil bacterial microbiome before a broiler house was constructed, then through 11 flock rotations (2.

Disinfectant and Antimicrobial Susceptibility Profiles of the Big Six Non-O157 Shiga Toxin-Producing Escherichia coli Strains from Food Animals and Humans.

The disinfectant and antimicrobial susceptibility profiles of 138 non-O157 Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli strains (STECs) from food animals and humans were determined. Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) was moderate (39.1% of strains) in response to 15 antimicrobial agents.

Poultry litter and the environment: Physiochemical properties of litter and soil during successive flock rotations and after remote site deposition.

The U.S. broiler meat market has grown over the past 16 years and destinations for U.

Canonical discrimination of the effect of a new broiler production facility on soil chemical profiles as related to current management practices.

The effect dirt-floored broiler houses have on the underlying native soil, and the potential for contamination of the ground water by leaching under the foundation, is an understudied area. This study examines alterations in fifteen quantitative soil parameters (Ca, Cu, electrical conductivity, Fe, K, Mg, Mn, Na, NO3, organic matter, P, pH, S, soil moisture and Zn) in the underlayment of a newly constructed dirt-floored broiler house over the first two years of production (Native through Flock 11). The experiment was conducted near NW Robertson County, Texas, where the native soil is a fine, smectitic thermic Udertic Paleustalfs and the slopes range from zero to three percent.

Destruction of single-species biofilms of Escherichia coli or Klebsiella pneumoniae subsp. pneumoniae by dextranase, lactoferrin, and lysozyme.

The aim of this work was to determine the destructive activity of dextranase, lactoferrin, and lysozyme, against single species biofilms composed of either Klebsiella pneumoniae subsp. pneumoniae or Escherichia coli using the MBEC Assay. Luminescence measurements based on quantitation of the ATP present were used to determine the amount of biofilm elimination and correlated with quantity of live bacteria present in the sample.

Disinfectant and antibiotic susceptibility profiles of Escherichia coli O157:H7 strains from cattle carcasses, feces, and hides and ground beef from the United States.

The disinfectant and antibiotic susceptibility profiles of 344 Escherichia coli O157:H7 strains from cattle carcasses, feces, and hides and ground beef from the United States were determined. A low prevalence of antibiotic resistance was observed (14%). The highest prevalences of resistance were to sulfisoxazole (10.

Evaluation of Salmonella movement through the gut of the lesser mealworm, Alphitobius diaperinus (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae).

Aims: The lesser mealworm, Alphitobius diaperinus is an important poultry pest prevalent during production that is capable of vectoring pathogens. This study was undertaken to determine the gut transit time of Salmonella for biosecurity risk analysis of pathogen dispersal into the environment.

Methods: Adult and larval A.

Characterization of Salmonella enterica isolates from turkeys in commercial processing plants for resistance to antibiotics, disinfectants, and a growth promoter.

Salmonella enterica isolates from turkeys in two commercial processing plants (1 and 2) were characterized for susceptibility to antibiotics, disinfectants, and the organoarsenical growth promoter, 4-hydroxy-3-nitrophenylarsonic acid (3-NHPAA, roxarsone), and it's metabolites, NaAsO(2) (As(III)) and Na(2)HAsO(4) • 7H(2)O (As(V)). The 130 Salmonella serovars tested demonstrated a low incidence of resistance to the antibiotics gentamicin (GEN), kanamycin (KAN), sulfamethoxazole (SMX), streptomycin (STR), and tetracycline (TET). Isolates resistant to antibiotics were most often multidrug resistant.

Characterization of planktonic and biofilm communities of day-of-hatch chicks cecal microflora and their resistance to Salmonella colonization.

Recent concerns about the use of antimicrobials in food animals have increased interest in the microbial ecology and biofilms within their gastrointestinal tract. This work used a continuous-flow chemostat system to model the microbial community within the ceca from day-of-hatch chicks and its ability to resist colonization by Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium. We characterized the biofilm and planktonic communities from five cultures by using automated ribotyping.

Bacterial Concentration and Diversity within Repetitive Aliquots Collected from Replicate Continuous-Flow Bioreactor Cultures.

The aim of this study was to determine the reproducibility of small volume repeat sampling from replicate bioreactors with stabilized continuous-flow chicken cecal bacterial communities. Bacterial concentration and diversity were analyzed by phenotypic, biochemical and ribotype analysis. Significant differences in concentrations and variations in diversity were found in replicate bioreactors.

Planktonic and biofilm community characterization and Salmonella resistance of 14-day-old chicken cecal Microflora-derived continuous-flow cultures.

This study evaluated the composition of gastrointestinal bacterial communities in birds during an age in which their susceptibility to Salmonella is highly diminished. One of the challenges to developing probiotics is to develop an efficacious culture of minimal diversity that includes bacteria that are vital contributors to protection from pathogens, but excludes unnecessary species. This study used in vitro continuous-flow culture techniques to test the ability of mixed bacterial cultures acquired from in vivo sources, to resist colonization by a marker Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium, and then characterized the constituents of both biofilm and planktonic communities by biochemical, phenotypic, and molecular methods.

The acquisition and internalization of Salmonella by the lesser mealworm, Alphitobius diaperinus (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae).

In poultry broiler production facilities, it is important to understand the sources and contribution of reservoir populations of pathogens. The lesser mealworm beetle, Alphitobius diaperinus (Panzer), is a common pest in poultry litter that is reported to carry pathogens affecting both human and animal health. This study investigates whether the carriage of a bacterial pathogen occurs by the harboring of bacteria internally by these insects.

External surface disinfection of the lesser mealworm (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae).

Understanding the dynamics of movement of bacteria within the environment and between species is crucial to unraveling the epidemiology of bacterial diseases and to developing biosecurity measures to prevent dissemination. Many arthropods, some beneficial and some detrimental, inhabit poultry houses. The lesser mealworm, Alphitobius diaperinus (Panzer) (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae), is a pest commonly found in poultry litter that can harbor pathogens involved in both human and animal health issues.

Qualitative and quantitative comparison of gut bacterial colonization in enterally and parenterally fed neonatal pigs.

Total parenteral nutrition (TPN) has been associated with mucosal atrophy, impaired gut barrier function, and translocation of luminal bacteria with resultant sepsis in preterm human infants. Currently, we examined the effects of enteral (ENT) or TPN treatments on translocation events in neonatal pigs and on colonization and composition of microbiota in the neonatal gut. Newborn, colostrum-deprived pigs (<24 hours old) were fitted with intravenous catheters and were fed either ENT (n = 13) or TPN (n = 13) for 7 days.

Web-based Bayesian Communication: the Bayesian z-test.

Bayesian Communication provides an explicit and quantitative way to combine a reader's preconceived notions with data from a study to help in making decisions, and thus implements the decision-analytic paradigm in the setting of interpreting and adapting research results. Article Assistant employs a three-tier architecture. The interface elicits users' prior belief and values; the article library provides data from the study, the system calculates the posterior belief distribution and sensitivity analysis on the fly, and provides an interpretation of the numerical results.

Dereplication by automated ribotyping of a competitive exclusion culture bacterial isolate library.

Concerns over the development of antibiotic-resistant bacteria within the food animal industry have intensified the search for natural approaches to the prevention and treatment of bacterial diseases. Competitive exclusion cultures are the foundation of a disease-management strategy based on the use of benign bacterial strains to prevent the establishment of pathogenic bacteria within a specific host. Differentiation of phenotypically ambiguous isolates is a critical step in establishing a manageable library of bacteria for use in the development of defined competitive exclusion cultures.

News and notes: An atypical Campylobacter coli exhibiting unusual morphology.

Campylobacter coli cells are characterized by a comma, or spiral shape, and a single polar flagellum. Here we report stable spontaneous changes in morphology to an aflagellated straight rod. The ability to colonize the chick cecum was lost.

Further characterization of Campylobacter isolated from U.S. dairy cows.

The objective of the present study was to compare polymerase chain reaction (PCR) identification with ribotype results and to use pulsed field electrophoresis (PFGE) to correlate genotypic patterns with antibiotic resistance of Campylobacter isolated from lactating dairy cows in the United States. Thirty isolates were studied. Twenty-seven of the isolates were identified by PCR as Campylobacter jejuni and three were identified as Campylobacter coli.

Campylobacter prevalence in lactating dairy cows in the United States.

The objective of the present study was to determine the prevalence of intestinal Campylobacter in lactating dairy cows from various regions of the United States. Participating commercial dairy farms were chosen at random and were part of a national survey to determine E. coli O157:H7 and Salmonella prevalence in dairy cows.

Cecal colonization of chicks by bovine-derived strains of Campylobacter.

Campylobacter jejuni and Campylobacter coli strains were isolated from feces of dairy cattle at farms with no known problem due to campylobacteria. Farms were located in the northeast, desert southwest, and Pacific west. Twenty isolates were identified by ribotyping with a RiboPrinter.