title: Microorganisms responsible for controlling the populations of Escherichia coli and enterococcus and the consistency of cecal contents in the chicken.
abstract: A study was made to clarify what kinds of intestinal organisms might be responsible for controlling the populations of Escherichia coli and Streptococcus faecalis var. liquefaciens in the cecum and the consistency of the cecal of chickens. Germ-free chickens were inoculated orally with various mixtures of bacterial cultures alone or in combination, different dilutions of the cecal contents of chickens, different dilutions of the cecal contents treated by healing or with chloroform, the supernatant of diluted cecal contents, and dilutions of human feces. Factors controlling the E. Coli populations, enterococcal populations, and consistency of the cecal contents were shown to be independent of one another. The ecosystem controlling the E. coli or enterscoccal population was more complex than that controlling the consistency of the cecal contents. The former was composed of anaerobic and facultatively anaerobic bacteria isolated and heat- or chloroform-resistance organisms, and the latter of heat- or chloroform-resistance alone, which were inferred not to prevailing in the cecal contents of chickens. Discussion is made on ecological systems controlling flora.
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000898:Antibiosis; D001419:Bacteria / Q000254:growth & development*; D002432:Cecum / Q000382:microbiology*; D002645:Chickens; D013293:Enterococcus faecalis / Q000254:growth & development*; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000254:growth & development*; D005243:Feces; D005856:Germ-Free Life; D013045:Species Specificity