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Microbial Ecology and Association of Bacillus thuringiensis in Chicken Feces Originating from Feed

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Abstract

To explain the association of Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) with animal feces, an ecological analysis in chickens was conducted by introducing a cry − strain marked by production of green fluorescent protein (GFP). After feeding with the tagged Bt strains, the feces of the tested chickens were collected at different times, isolated, and the morphology of Bt was observed. It was shown that Bt strain HD-73GFP in spore form could be isolated from feces of chickens for a period of 13 d, and then it disappeared thereafter. Bt could be detected only up to day 4 (but not thereafter), when chickens were fed with vegetative cells of HD-73GFP. To confirm the source of newly isolated strains, the gfp gene was examined by polymerase chain reaction (PCR), which showed that all the isolated strains harbored the marker gene. Recent data from isolation and PCR had suggested that fecal Bt strains had originated from food. Chicken tissues were thus dissected to isolate Bt strains and to investigate whether Bt could be located in vivo. Bt was located within the duodenum in spore form. Compared to the morphology of the isolated strains at different growth times, the growth rates of all the tested Bt had little changes when passing through the digestive system to the feces. Dissection of the chickens confirmed that Bt was safe for the tested animal.

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Acknowledgments

This study has been supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 31071745), the Science Foundation of the Ministry of Education of China (Grant Nos. 20093515110010 and 20093515120010), the Transformation Fund for Agricultural Science and Technology Achievements (Grant No. 2010GB2C400212), Education Department Foundation of Fujian Province Distinguished Young Scholars in Universities of Fujian Province (Grand No. JA12092), Grant No. 2B08003 from the Ministry of Education of the Czech Republic, and Project No. Z50070508 of the Institute of Entomology of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Biopesticide and Chemical Biology, Ministry of Education, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou, 350002, Fujian, People’s Republic of China

    Lingling Zhang, Yan Peng, Songqing Wu, Linying Sun, Tianpei Huang, Lei Xu, Changbiao Wu & Xiong Guan

  2. Fujian International Travel Health Care Center, Fuzhou, 350001, Fujian, People’s Republic of China

    Enjiong Huang

  3. Biological Centre of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Institute of Entomology, Branišovská 31, 37005, České Budějovice, Czech Republic

    Ivan Gelbič

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  1. Lingling Zhang
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  2. Yan Peng
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  3. Songqing Wu
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  8. Changbiao Wu
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  9. Ivan Gelbič
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  10. Xiong Guan
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Correspondence to Xiong Guan.

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Yan Peng: Co-first author.

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Zhang, L., Peng, Y., Wu, S. et al. Microbial Ecology and Association of Bacillus thuringiensis in Chicken Feces Originating from Feed. Curr Microbiol 65, 784–791 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00284-012-0231-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00284-012-0231-3

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