Jejunal bacterial communities of broiler chickens challenged with different Clostridium perfringens isolates

The objective of this study was to understand the significance of different combinations of toxin genes on jejunal bacterial communities of broiler chickens after challenging with different Clostridium perfringens (CP) strains. A total of 70 day-old broiler chicks (Prairie Pride, SK, Canada) were randomly divided into four groups : (1) control/healthy bird (n=10); (2) CP strain containing alpha, necrotic enteritis-B like toxin, beta 2 and large clostridial toxin genes (n=20, 4Toxin); (3) CP strain containing alpha, necrotic enteritis-B like toxin,and beta 2 (n=20, 3Toxin); and (4) CP strain containing alpha and beta 2 genes (n=20, 2Toxin). All groups were fed with 20% protein up to day 18 followed by an 19-hour feed withdrawal before challenge. An abrupt increase in the protein content from 20 to 28% was done in all the groups. Groups 2, 3 and 4 broilers were fed with a 28% protein ration with added Fluid Thioglycollate media-grown CP cultures contained 4Toxin, 3Toxin, and 2Toxin respectively in 1:1 (v/w) ratio for 3 consecutive days (20 to 22 days of age). At 23 days of age, the broilers were euthanized, and post-mortem examination conducted. Jejunal contents were collected and stored until processing.