Specific Establishment of Lactobacilli in the Digestive Tract of Germ‐Free Chickens

Abstract

Establishment of lactobacilli in the digestive tract of germ‐free chicks was studied using the organisms isolated from chickens, human infants and sour milk and those received from the American Type Culture Collection. In the case of monocontamination, intestinal lactobacilli such as Lactobacillus acidophilus, L. salivarius and L. fermenti except L. acidophilus ATCC 4356 and non‐intestinal lactobacilli such as L. plantarum and L. casei were well established in the digestive tract of germ‐free chicks regardless of their origins, although the bacterial numbers of the established strains varied considerably in different parts of the gut. On the contrary, L. acidophilus ATCC 4356 of human origin and L. jugurti, L. helveticus and L. brevis which originated from non‐intestinal materials failed to be established in the gut of germ‐free chicks. In the case of dicontamination, L. acidophilus from an infant was shown to disappear after administration together with Escherichia coli or L. salivarius from chickens. L. plantarum and L. casei disappeared or showed a suppressed growth in the presence of L. acidophilus or Streptococcus faecalis var. liquefaciens from chickens. © jointly owned by author and Igakushoin (Publisher)