Microbiome analysis of broiler litter
This study evaluated the effect of organic acids (OA) in drinking water and litter treatments as pre-harvest strategies to control SE spread and transmission during three consecutive grow outs. This article specifically focuses on the impact related to the microbiome of the litter after the treatments. At seven days of age, during the first grow out, the birds were orally gavage with a solution containing 1.0x10 7 colony forming units (CFU) of a nalidixic acid-resistant Salmonella Enteritidis strain. Water treatments were administered continuously through the drinker lines connected to water reservoir buckets. They consisted of a first group with acetic acid [CH3COOH] and lactic acid [C3H6O3] (organic acid blend), a second group with citric acid [C6H8O7] and a third group with untreated water. Each group with 24 repetitions (pens). After the first grow out, litter treatments included windrow composting and Aluminum sulfate (Al+Clear). The combination between water and litter treatments defined 9 groups. Litter samples were taken after every grow out and after the litter treatment. DNA was extracted from litter samples and the 16S rRNA V4/5 region was amplified by PCR. The products were sent for Illumina sequencing.