Effect of high-fiber and high-oil diets on the fecal flora of swine.
Six pairs of pigs were fed a basal diet, a high-fiber diet, and a diet high in corn oil in different sequences to minimize the carry-over effect of diet. After 2 months on each diet, a fecal specimen from each pig was cultured on nonselective medium in roll tubes. Fifty colonies were randomly selected from each fecal sample, and isolates were characterized to identify a representative cross section of the fecal flora. The bacterial composition of the fecal flora differed between basal and high-fiber diets (P = 0.002) and between high-fiber and high-oil diets (P = 0.015). However, the floras were not significantly different between the basal and the high-oil diets (P = 0.135), nor were the floras of the 12 individual pigs (each on all three diets) statistically different (P = 0.103). Only 14 of the 160 observed taxa have been detected in the human fecal flora, and only 159 of 1,871 total isolates (8.5%) were members of described species. The most common isolate was a Streptococcus species similar to that reported by Robinson et al. (I. M. Robinson, S. C. Whipp, J. A. Bucklin, and M. J. Allison, Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 48:964-969, 1984), which was found in 34 of 36 samples and which represented 27.5% of all isolates. Lactobacillus, Fusobacterium, Eubacterium, Bacteroides, and Peptostreptococcus species were the next most common bacteria. Escherichia coli represented 1.7% of all fecal isolates, which is somewhat higher than the 0.1 to 0.6% observed in human feces cultured similarly with prereduced anaerobically sterilized media.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Moore
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WE
Department of Anaerobic Microbiology, Virginia Polytechnic Institute, Blacksburg.
Moore
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Cato
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Wilkins
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TD
Kornegay
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D000821:Animal Feed; D000818:Animals; D001419:Bacteria / Q000254:growth & development*; D003470:Culture Media; D004042:Dietary Fats, Unsaturated / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D004043:Dietary Fiber / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D005243:Feces / Q000382:microbiology*; D005260:Female; D013552:Swine / Q000382:microbiology*
D003470:Culture Media; D004042:Dietary Fats, Unsaturated; D004043:Dietary Fiber