The interplay between Campylobacter and Helicobacter species and other gastrointestinal microbiota of commercial broiler chickens

Abstract

BackgroundPoultry represent an important source of foodborne enteropathogens, in particular thermophilic Campylobacter species. Many of these organisms colonize the intestinal tract of broiler chickens as harmless commensals, and therefore, often remain undetected prior to slaughter. The exact reasons for the lack of clinical disease are unknown, but analysis of the gastrointestinal microbiota of broiler chickens may improve our understanding of the microbial interactions with the host.MethodsIn this study, the fecal microbiota of 31 market-age (56-day old) broiler chickens, from two different farms, was analyzed using high throughput sequencing. The samples were then screened for two emerging human pathogens, Campylobacter concisus and Helicobacter pullorum, using species-specific PCR.ResultsThe gastrointestinal microbiota of chickens was classified into four potential enterotypes, similar to that of humans, where three enterotypes have been identified. The results indicated that variations between farms may have contributed to differences in the microbiota, though each of the four enterotypes were found in both farms suggesting that these groupings did not occur by chance. In addition to the identification of Campylobacter jejuni subspecies doylei and the emerging species, C. concisus, C. upsaliensis and H. pullorum, several differences in the prevalence of human pathogens within these enterotypes were observed. Further analysis revealed microbial taxa with the potential to increase the likelihood of colonization by a number of these pathogens, including C. jejuni.ConclusionDepletion of these taxa and the addition of taxa that compete with these pathogens, may form the basis of competitive exclusion strategies to eliminate them from the gastrointestinal tract of chickens.

Age-Related Differences in the Luminal and Mucosa-Associated Gut Microbiome of Broiler Chickens and Shifts Associated with Campylobacter jejuni Infection

“…This confirms data from an earlier study in which a positive correlation between high levels of Clostridium perfringens (>6 log) and the colonization of C. jejuni were found by real-time quantitative PCR (Skånseng et al, 2006; Thibodeau et al, 2015). This might be due to the fact that C. jejuni acts as a hydrogen sink leading to improved growth conditions for some Clostridia through increased fermentation (Kaakoush et al, 2014). This link can also be explained by the fact that the Clostridium organic acid production could be used by C. jejuni as an energy source.…”

Investigating the Association Between the Caecal Microbiomes of Broilers and Campylobacter Burden

“…For example, a study in mice demonstrated that a diet-induced alteration of the intestinal microbiota, comprising an increase in the abundance of E. coli and a decrease in Lactobacillus was associated with a greater susceptibility to C. jejuni infection (Bereswill et al, 2011). Furthermore, another study reported an association between higher C. jejuni counts and lower abundance of Lactobacillus (Kaakoush et al, 2014). The same research group showed that not only Lactobacillus spp.…”

“…Recent studies (Hilbert et al, 2010; Haag et al, 2012; Dicksved et al, 2014; Kaakoush et al, 2014) have shown that Campylobacter closely interacts with other microorganisms, the intestinal microbiota is important for Campylobacter colonization in chickens (Kaakoush et al, 2014) and Campylobacter colonization leads to a change in the intestinal microbiota (Haag et al, 2012). According to another recent study (Sofka et al, 2015), the caecal microbiota in Campylobacter -free and Campylobacter colonized chickens differed considerably.…”

Global Epidemiology of Campylobacter Infection

“…In addition to chickens, commercial turkeys and ducks can also serve as reservoirs of C. jejuni and C. coli (315)(316)(317). Furthermore, poultry is also an important reservoir of other Campylobacter species, such as C. lari, C. upsaliensis, and C. concisus (318,319). Domesticated broiler chickens and imported chickens both contribute to the overall burden of Campylobacter infections (320).…”