Gut microbiota has been demonstrated to be involved in intestinal nutrition, defense, and immunity, as well as participating in disease progression. This study was to investigate gut microbiota changes in chickens challenged with netB -positive Clostridium perfringens strain (CP1) and/or the predisposing Eimeria species ( Eimeria ) and fed diets with fishmeal supplementation. In addition, the effects of lauric acid, a medium-chain fatty acid (MCFA), on necrotic enteritis (NE) reduction and modulation of microbiota were evaluated. The results demonstrated that microbial communities in the jejunum were distinct from those in the cecum, and the microbial community change was more significant in jejunum. Challenge of CP1 in conjunction with Eimeria significantly reduced species diversity in jejunal microbiota, but cecal microbiota remained stable. In the jejunum, CP1 challenge increased the abundance of the genera of Clostridium sensu stricto 1 , Escherichia Shigella , and Weissella , but significantly decreased the population of Lactobacillus . Eimeria infection on its own was unable to promote NE, demonstrating decrements of Clostridium sensu stricto 1 and Lactobacillus . Co-infection with CP1 and Eimeria reproduced the majority of NE lesions with significant increment of C lostridium sensu stricto 1 and reduction in Lactobacillus . The advance of changes on these two taxa increased the severity of NE lesions. Further analyses of metagenomeSeq, STAMP, and LEfSe consistently showed significant overgrowth of Clostridium sensu stricto 1 was associated with NE. The supplementation of lauric acid did not reduce NE incidence and severity but decreased the relative abundance of Escherichia Shigella . In conclusion, significant overgrowth of C . perfringens as well as other Clostridium species in Clostridium sensu stricto 1 with the decrement of Lactobacillus in the jejunum is the featured microbiota correlated with NE. Controlling proliferation of Clostridium sensu stricto 1 and manipulation of Lactobacillus in the jejunum should be the strategy to prevent NE.

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Outbreaks of listeriosis caused by the ingestion of Listeria-contaminated ready-to-eat foods have been reported worldwide. Many ready-to-eat foods, such as deli meat products, contain high amounts of salt, which can disrupt the maintenance of osmotic balance within bacterial cells. To understand how Listeria monocytogenes adapts to salt stress, we examined the growth and global gene expression profiles of L. monocytogenes strain F2365 under salt stress using oligonucleotide probe-based DNA array and quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) analyses. The growth of L. monocytogenes in brain heart infusion (BHI) medium with various concentrations of NaCl (2.5, 5, and 10%) was significantly inhibited (P < 0.01) when compared with growth in BHI with no NaCl supplementation. Microarray data indicated that growth in BHI medium with 1.2% NaCl upregulated 4 genes and down-regulated 24 genes in L. monocytogenes, which was confirmed by qRT-PCR. The transcript levels of genes involved in the uptake of glycine betaine/l-proline were increased, whereas genes associated with a putative phosphoenolpyruvate-dependent sugar phosphotransferase system (PTS), metabolic enzymes, and virulence factor were down-regulated. Specifically, the expression levels of PTS transport genes were shown to be dependent on NaCl concentration. To further examine whether the down-regulation of PTS genes is related to decreased cell growth, the transcript levels of genes encoding components of enzyme II, involved in the uptake of various sugars used as the primary carbon source in bacteria, were also measured using qRT-PCR. Our results suggest that the decreased transcript levels of PTS genes may be caused by salt stress or reduced cell growth through salt stress. Here, we report global transcriptional profiles of L. monocytogenes in response to salt stress, contributing to an improved understanding of osmotolerance in this bacterium.

From August 1994 to May 1995, 238 channel catfish fillets collected from three processing plants in the Mississippi Delta at four time periods were tested for the presence of Aeromonas species. Identification of Aeromonas spp. was accomplished using an automated Vitek bioassay system with gram-negative and nonfermenter cards. Approximately 36.1% were positive for A. hydrophila, 35.7% for A. sobria, and 10.9% for A. caviae. All three Aeromonas spp. were found in all three processing plants, and the incidence of A. hydrophila contamination appeared to be higher in summer than other seasons. Eighty-six percent of the Aeromonas isolates were hemolytic on 5% sheep blood agar plates. Most isolates were susceptible to chloramphenicol, neomycin, streptomycin, and trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole and resistant to ampicillin and bacitracin. Results suggest that Aeromonas spp. are prevalent in processed channel catfish, and most isolates are hemolytic and resistant to ampicillin and bacitracin.

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