title: Differences in major bacterial populations in the intestines of mature broilers after feeding virginiamycin or bacitracin methylene disalicylate.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The purpose of this study was to compare the effects of feeding virginiamycin or bacitracin methylene disalicylate (BMD), two in-feed antibiotics typically used by commercial poultry producers in the United States, on the chicken gastrointestinal microbiota.
  
  
  RESULTS
  454 pyrosequencing of the V6-V8 region of the 16S rRNA gene and quantitative PCR were employed to examine the bacterial microbiota and Clostridium perfringens, respectively, in the jejunum and caecum of market-age broiler chickens over four replicate grow-outs.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our results suggest that virginiamycin has a more pronounced impact on broiler gastrointestinal tract bacterial communities, relative to BMD, manifested primarily through significant enrichments in the genus Faecalibacterium in the caecum and a distinct population of Lactobacillus, OTU_02, in both the jejunum and caecum. No evidence for a difference among the diets in Cl. perfringens levels in the jejunum or caecum was observed.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This work represents the highest resolution comparison to date of the jejunum and caecum microbiota in broilers fed either virginiamycin or BMD, and provides evidence for specific bacterial OTUs potentially involved in the health and performance benefits typically attributed to these in-feed antibiotics.
authors.affiliation: Department of Bacteriology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA.
authors.forename: A P
authors.initials: AP
authors.lastname: Neumann
authors.affiliation: Department of Bacteriology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Suen
mesh_terms: D000284:Administration, Oral; D000818:Animals; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000494:pharmacology*; D001414:Bacitracin / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000494:pharmacology*; D001419:Bacteria / Q000187:drug effects*; D002645:Chickens; D000069196:Gastrointestinal Microbiome / Q000187:drug effects*; D007422:Intestines / Q000382:microbiology*; D012459:Salicylates / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000494:pharmacology*; D014769:Virginiamycin / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000494:pharmacology*
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D012459:Salicylates; D014769:Virginiamycin; D001414:Bacitracin; C023400:bacitracin methylenedisalicylic acid
keywords: Clostridium perfringens; bacitracin; broiler chickens; in-feed antibiotics; microbial ecology; microbiota; pyrosequencing; virginiamycin