Strategies to Enhance Cultivation of Anaerobic Bacteria from Gastrointestinal Tract of Chicken

Summary

The protocol presents two methodologies to improve the isolation of anaerobic intestinal bacteria. The first focuses on the isolation of a diverse range of bacteria using different culture media. The second focuses on the cultivation steps of a specific microbial group, possibly assimilating myo-inositol, to fully comprehend its ecological significance.

Abstract

The gastrointestinal tract (GIT) of chicken is a complex ecosystem harboring trillions of microbes that play a pivotal role in the host's physiology, digestion, nutrient absorption, immune system maturation, and prevention of pathogen intrusion. For optimal animal health and productivity, it is imperative to characterize these microorganisms and comprehend their role. While the GIT of poultry holds a reservoir of microorganisms with potential probiotic applications, most of the diversity remains unexplored. To enhance our understanding of uncultured microbial diversity, concerted efforts are required to bring these microorganisms into culture. Isolation and cultivation of GIT-colonizing microorganisms yield reproducible material, including cells, DNA, and metabolites, offering new insights into metabolic processes in the environment. Without cultivation, the role of these organisms in their natural settings remains unclear and limited to a descriptive level. Our objective is to implement cultivation strategies aimed at improving the isolation of a diverse range of anaerobic microbes from the chicken's GIT, leveraging multidisciplinary knowledge from animal physiology, animal nutrition, metagenomics, feed biochemistry, and modern cultivation strategies. Additionally, we aim to implement the use of proper practices for sampling, transportation, and media preparation, which are known to influence isolation success. Appropriate methodologies should ensure a consistent oxygen-free environment, optimal atmospheric conditions, appropriate host incubation temperature, and provision for specific nutritional requirements in alignment with their distinctive needs. By following these methodologies, cultivation will not only yield reproducible results for isolation but will also facilitate isolation procedures, thus fostering a comprehensive understanding of the intricate microbial ecosystem within the chicken's GIT.

Introduction

The resurgence of cultivation in studying microorganisms has complemented insights from metagenomic studies by providing material to test metabolic hypotheses that were previously only partially described and quantified. Cultivation of intestinal bacteria provides material to sustain future research on microbial-host interactions, facilitate targeted colonization studies, and improve molecular interaction studies^1,2,3. The knowledge gained about gastrointestinal microorganisms has improved animal nutrition and welfare by influencing diet formulations and enhancing nutrient av....

Protocol

The protocol is divided into four parts: sampling, bacterial isolation, identification, and preservation of the obtained microorganisms. Approved permissions on the use of animals were issued by the ethical commission of Regierungspräsidium Tübingen, Germany with the approval numbers HOH50/17 TE and HOH67-21TE.

1. Obtaining samples for the cultivation of anaerobic bacteria

1. Maintenance of animals
   1. Maintain animals on an ad libitum comme.......

Discussion

The purpose of this methodology is to enhance the cultivation of anaerobic intestinal bacteria by improving the quality of sampling conditions, sample processing, and media formulation and preparation. The physicochemical conditions of samples (pH, the availability of carbon, nitrogen, and cofactors) must be taken into consideration when formulating the culture media. Compared to bacterial culture collections obtained from pigs, humans, or mice^1,26,

Materials

Name	Company	Catalog Number	Comments
Acetic acid	VWR	20104.334
Agar	VWR	97064-332
Ammonium chloride	Carl Roth	P726.1
Anaerobic station	Don Whitley Scientific	A35 HEPA
Butyric acid	Merck	8.0045.1000
Calcium chloride dihydrate	VWR	97061-904
Centrifuge	Eppendorf	5424R
Chicken lysozyme (Muramidase)	VWR	1.05281.0010
Cysteine	VWR	97061-204
Dextrose	VWR	90000-908
Di-potassium hydrogen phosphate	Carl Roth	P749.1
EDTA	Carl Roth	8043.2
Legehennen/ Junghennenfutter	Deutsche Tiernahrung Cremer GmbH & Co. KG, Düsseldorf, Germany	-
MagAttract HMW DNA Kit	Qiagen	67563
Magnesium chloride	Carl Roth	2189.1
Mixed gas (80% N2 (quality level 5.0), 15% CO2 (quality level 3.0) and 5% H2 (quality level 5.0))	Westfalen Gase GmbH, Germany	-
Mutanolysin, recombinant (lyophilisate)	A&A Biotechnology	1017-10L
Myo-inositol	Carl Roth	4191.2
PBS 1X	ChemSolute	8418.01
Potassium dihydrogen phosphate	Carl Roth	3904.2
Propionic acid	Carl Roth	6026.1
QuantiFluor dsDNA System	Promega	E2671
RNAse A	QIAGEN Ribonuclease A (RNase A)	19101
Sodium chloride	VWR	27800.291
Sodium resazurin	VWR	85019-296
Sodium thioglycolate	Sigma-Aldrich	102933
Soy Peptone, GMO-Free, Animal-Free	VWR	97064-186
Thermocycler	Bio-Rad	T100
Tryptone	Carl Roth	8952.1
Tween80	Carl Roth	9139.2
Vitamin mix (supplement)	VWR	968290NL
Vortex	Star Lab	07127/92930
Yeast Extract	Carl Roth	9257.05
β-D-Fructose	VWR	53188-23-1