The bacterial flora of the intestine of Ascaris suum and 5-hydroxytryptamine production.
Representative facultative anaerobes of the bacterial flora from the intestine of female Ascaris suum were isolated and identified. The number of bacteria in the intestine was approximately 4 X 10(9) per g wet weight of intestine. Seventeen of 19 of the isolated colonies were found to secrete 5-hydroxytryptamine in culture. Holding A. suum in an antibiotic-containing medium did not affect the levels of 5-hydroxytryptamine in the worm, which were 231 +/- 14 ng/g in antibiotic-media as compared to 250 +/- 16 ng/g in control media. This implied that the bacteria may not be contributing to the level of 5-hydroxytryptamine in the tissues of A. suum.
D000693:Anaerobiosis; D000818:Animals; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000494:pharmacology; D001200:Ascaris / Q000032:analysis / Q000382:microbiology*; D001419:Bacteria / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000378:metabolism*; D004755:Enterobacteriaceae / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D007413:Intestinal Mucosa / Q000378:metabolism; D007422:Intestines / Q000382:microbiology; D012701:Serotonin / Q000032:analysis / Q000096:biosynthesis*
D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D012701:Serotonin