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Recurring Necrotic Enteritis Outbreaks in Commercial Broiler Chicken Flocks Strongly Influence Toxin Gene Carriage and Species Richness in the Resident Clostridium perfringens Population
- Source :
- Frontiers in Microbiology, Frontiers in Microbiology, Vol 8 (2017)
- Publication Year :
- 2017
- Publisher :
- Frontiers Media S.A., 2017.
-
Abstract
- Extensive use of antibiotic growth promoters (AGPs) in food animals has been questioned due to the globally increasing problem of antibiotic resistance. For the poultry industry, digestive health management following AGP withdrawal in Europe has been a challenge, especially the control of necrotic enteritis. Much research work has focused on gut health in commercial broiler chicken husbandry. Understanding the behavior of Clostridium perfringens in its ecological niche, the poultry barn, is key to a sustainable and cost-effective production in the absence of AGPs. Using polymerase chain reaction and pulsed-field gel electrophoresis, we evaluated how the C. perfringens population evolved in drug-free commercial broiler chicken farms, either healthy or affected with recurring clinical necrotic enteritis outbreaks, over a 14-month period. We show that a high genotypic richness was associated with an increased risk of clinical necrotic enteritis. Also, necrotic enteritis-affected farms had a significant reduction of C. perfringens genotypic richness over time, an increase in the proportion of C. perfringens strains harboring the cpb2 gene, the netB gene, or both. Thus, necrotic enteritis occurrence is correlated with the presence of an initial highly diverse C. perfringens population, increasing the opportunity for the selective sweep of particularly virulent genotypes. Disease outbreaks also appear to largely influence the evolution of this bacterial species in poultry farms over time.
- Subjects :
- 0301 basic medicine
Microbiology (medical)
Clostridium perfringens
030106 microbiology
Population
lcsh:QR1-502
Virulence
Biology
medicine.disease_cause
necrotic enteritis
Microbiology
lcsh:Microbiology
03 medical and health sciences
Antibiotic resistance
medicine
education
Original Research
2. Zero hunger
education.field_of_study
commercial broiler chickens
business.industry
Broiler
Outbreak
Poultry farming
drug-free program
3. Good health
030104 developmental biology
Flock
business
richness
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 1664302X
- Volume :
- 8
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- Frontiers in Microbiology
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....ed986783d7994d05dcfdb54565ee0bd0