Avian caeca contain a large and diverse population of bacteria. Certain genera, including Bifidobacterium, are thought to exert health-promoting effects. Two media were evaluated to determine their sensitivity and selectivity for bifidobacteria in the hen caecal samples: modified Wilkins-Chalgren agar (MW; Oxoid) with the addition of glacial acetic acid (1 ml/l) and mupirocin (100 mg/l) and modified TPY agar (MTPY; ADSA, Spain) with glacial acetic acid (1 ml/l) and mupirocin (100 mg/l). The colonies arising on the plates inoculated with caecal samples were Gram stained, screened for the presence of fructose-6-phosphate phosphoketolase activity, and tested for fermentation patterns using ANAEROtest (Lachema, Czech Republic) and API 50 CHL (BioMérieux, France) kits. Both agars were selective for bifidobacteria, however, MTPY agar showed higher cfu/g than MW agar. Bifidobacterial counts were higher than 10(10) cfu/g of caecal contents using MTPY agar. Most of strains isolated from this medium fermented melibiose, sucrose, and raffinose, but not glucose. Soya peptone (5 g/l; Oxoid) stimulated the growth of glucose non-fermenting strains in complex liquid media. The results suggest that the media for selective enumeration and isolation of bifidobacteria in poultry caecal samples should not contain glucose as the sole carbon source. It can be concluded that MTPY medium is highly selective and permits the growth of both glucose fermenting and glucose non-fermenting bifidobacteria.

Czech University of Agriculture Prague Department of Microbiology and Biotechnology Kamýcká 129 6 Suchdol 16521 Prague Czech Republic

References provided by Crossref.org

Defined Pig Microbiota Mixture as Promising Strategy against Salmonellosis in Gnotobiotic Piglets

Species and Strain Variability among Sarcina Isolates from Diverse Mammalian Hosts

The bifidobacterial distribution in the microbiome of captive primates reflects parvorder and feed specialization of the host

Colonization of Germ-Free Piglets with Mucinolytic and Non-Mucinolytic Bifidobacterium boum Strains Isolated from the Intestine of Wild Boar and Their Interference with Salmonella Typhimurium

Gene encoding the CTP synthetase as an appropriate molecular tool for identification and phylogenetic study of the family Bifidobacteriaceae

Classification of Culturable Bifidobacterial Population from Colonic Samples of Wild Pigs (Sus scrofa) Based on Three Molecular Genetic Methods

In Vitro Selective Growth-Inhibitory Effect of 8-Hydroxyquinoline on Clostridium perfringens versus Bifidobacteria in a Medium Containing Chicken Ileal Digesta

Identification of bifidobacteria isolated from Asian elephant (Elephas maximus)

Inter-species differences in the growth of bifidobacteria cultured on human milk oligosaccharides

Interference of Bifidobacterium choerinum or Escherichia coli Nissle 1917 with Salmonella Typhimurium in gnotobiotic piglets correlates with cytokine patterns in blood and intestine

Survival of bifidobacteria administered to calves

Naturally occurring prebiotic oligosaccharides in poultry feed mixtures

Survival of bifidobacteria in adult intestinal tract

Intestinal microbiota in exclusively breast-fed infants with blood-streaked stools

Auto-aggregation and co-aggregation ability in bifidobacteria and clostridia

Comparison of intestinal microflora in healthy infants and infants with allergic colitis

Distribution of bifidobacteria in the gastrointestinal tract of calves

Different utilization of glucose and raffinose in Bifidobacterium breve and Bifidobacterium animalis

Enumeration, isolation, and identification of bifidobacteria from infant feces