Microorganisms Responsible for Controlling the Populations of Escherichia coli and Enterococcus and the Consistency of Cecal Contents in the Chicken

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Abstract
Clarification of intestinal organisms responsible for controlling the populations of E. coli and Streptococcus faecalis var. liquefaciens in the cecum and the consistency of the cecal contents of chickens was attempted. Germ-free chickens were inoculated orally with bacterial cultures [Bacteroides, Caterabacteria, bifideobacteria, peptostreptococci, Clostridium, lactobacilli, Staphylococcus epidermidis and Bacillus licheniformis] alone or in combination, different dilutions of chicken cecal contents, different dilutions of cecal contents treated by heating or with chloroform, the supernatant of diluted cecal contents, and dilutions of human feces. Factors controlling the E. coli population, enterococcal population and consistency of the cecal contents were independent of one another. The ecosystem controlling the E. coli or enterococcal population was more complex than that controlling the consistency of the cecal contents. The former was composed of anaerobic and faculatively anaerobic bacteria isolated and heat- or chloroform-resistant organisms, and the latter of heat- or chloroform-resistant organisms alone, which were inferred not to be prevailing in the cecal contents of chickens. Ecological systems controlling the intestinal flora are discussed.