Animal & Avian Sciences Theses and Dissertations
Permanent URI for this collectionhttp://hdl.handle.net/1903/2741
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Item CAUSATIVE AGENTS FOR FOWL TYPHOID AND PULLORUM DISEASE IN POULTRY AND APPROACH TO CONTROL(2023) Julianingsih, Dita; Biswas, Debabrata; Animal Sciences; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)In response to escalating consumer demand, a significant number of conventional US poultry farms have transitioned to antibiotic-free and chemical-free practices, particularly those adopting pasture/organic methods. However, recent reports highlight a resurgence of bacterial diseases in both conventional and pasture poultry farms, resulting in elevated bird mortality rates and reduced profitability. This comprehensive study investigates the prevalence of S. Gallinarum and S. Pullorum, causative agents of fowl typhoid and pullorum disease, in integrated crop-livestock/pasture farm environments and meat products. A total of 1,286 samples from 7 farms and 13 retail markets were examined, revealing that S. Pullorum and S. Gallinarum are common in both farm poultry environments and market products. Antibiotic resistance patterns, determined through an antibiogram assay, indicated high resistance to multiple antibiotics. S. Pullorum and S. Gallinarum were discovered in 2.7% and 1.5% of samples, respectively, at the pre-harvest stage. Only 1.6% of the meat samples recovered from retail markets had S. Gallinarum detected in them at the post-harvest level. Concurrently, a different study investigates the possibility of Orange Cold-press Valencia Terpeneless, a citrus oil variety, acting as a natural antimicrobial in poultry farming. This study tackles the problems caused by a decline in the usage of antibiotics, which has resulted in an increase in bacterial infections. Citrus oil exhibits potential as an antimicrobial agent, inhibiting the growth of S. Pullorum and S. Gallinarum, with consistent MIC and MBC values. Time-dependent experiments with 0.4% citrus oil show total suppression of bacterial growth, which is confirmed by environmental simulations. Furthermore, the study reveals that both Salmonella strains have downregulated their virulence genes, which may indicate a change in the pathogenicity of the bacteria. Overall, the findings highlight the crucial importance of surveillance programs and preventive measures. Citrus oil is presented as a promising natural alternative for antibiotics in the treatment of Salmonella-related infections in the poultry farming industry.Item ANTAGONISTIC MECHANISM OF METABOLITES FROM LACTOBACILLUS CASEI AGAINST FOODBORNE ENTEROHEMORRHAGIC ESCHERICHIA COLI(2022) Aditya, Arpita; Biswas, Debabrata; Animal Sciences; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli O157: H7 (EHEC), a foodborne enteropathogen, remains a significant public health concern since its discovery in 1982. With an incredibly low infectious dose (10-100 bacteria), this pathogen can cause self-limiting diarrhea, vomiting, and abdominal cramps. However, more complicated disease conditions such as bloody diarrhea or hemolytic colitis have been known to develop depending on the serotype involved in the infection, and on immune status and/or age of the patients. Due to its Shiga toxin (Stx) production ability, EHEC infection may lead to a kidney-related problem known as hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), which requires advanced medical care. Unlike other bacterial illnesses, therapeutic administration of antibiotics to treat EHEC infections is not recommended due to their controversial association with Stx production. As a result, only preventative/prophylactic and immune-supportive strategies are followed for EHEC infections. Using the antibacterial properties of probiotic bacteria and the metabolites they produce are promising alternative strategies for preventing EHEC infections. We have targeted the probiotic bacteria Lactobacillus casei to determine the mechanism of this alternative strategy. In our study, we have executed microbiological, molecular, chromatographic, and metagenomic approaches to determine the antagonistic mechanisms of action of their metabolites, specifically conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) produced by Lactobacillus casei, against the growth and metabolism of EHEC. The metabolites of wild-type L. casei (LCwt) were augmented by supplementing it with a prebiotic-like dietary component, namely peanut flour (PF) (LCwt+PF), while another LCwt was also genetically engineered (LCCLA) to over convert CLA from linoleic acid (LA). These modifications showed effective results in controlling EHEC both in vitro and in ex vivo conditions. Total metabolites present in cell-free culture supernatant (CFCS) of LCwt, LCwt+PF, and LCCLA were able to control the growth of EHEC without negatively hampering the relative abundance of Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes present in rumen fluid (RF). Among these CFCSs, CFCSCLA exerted the most desirable outcome by eliminating EHEC. In vitro studies demonstrated that, a lower concentration of purified CLA worked synergistically with other metabolites of LCwt and augmented their inhibitory activity against EHEC. The orchestrated effect of metabolites has been observed to downregulate the virulence genes, disrupt the cell membrane, interfere with cell division, and damage their genomic DNA. The probable effect of these metabolites, specifically CLA, on Stx production and neutralization was also investigated by assessing host cell cytotoxicity. Total metabolites of Lactobacillus spp. as well as CLA itself, showed improvement in cell survivability when exposed to Stx. Our findings established a ground to explore the effect of specific metabolites obtained from probiotic bacteria in control and prevention of EHEC. The findings also showed a promising association of purified CLA in neutralizing Stx which can be further explored to use it in therapeutic purposes.Item COMMUNITY STRUCTURES OF GUT MICROBIOME UNDER DIFFERENT DIETS IN ANGUS BEEF CATTLE(2019) Liu, Jianan; Song, Jiuzhou; Animal Sciences; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)The microbiota of animals’ digestive tract plays important roles in health, nutrient utilization, and performance. For ruminants, the digestive tract, including rumen and other gastro-intestinal regions, hosts a unique and diverse microbiome that aids feed fermentation, digestion, and absorption. We hypothesize that compositions of diets can influence microbiomes and further affect the production of VFA and the composition of bile acids in beef cattle. We used rectum microbiota as a baseline and examined the microbiome in rumen and jejunum by16S-seq, together with quantifications of VFAs, lactate, and bile acids under grass-feeding and grain-feeding. We found that microbial communities displayed significant differences in microbiome structure and VFA production. Moreover, increased VFAs in grain-fed group may trigger lactate-associated bacteria growth. Bile acids could promote the growth of bacteria that had abilities of secondary bile acids conversion. These results provided deep insights into differences in beef quality and bovine biology under different diets.Item REDUCED CAMPYLOBACTER INFECTION AND ENHANCED PERFORMANCE IN POULTRY WITH BIOACTIVE PHENOLICS THROUGH EPIGENETIC MODULATION OF THE GUT MICROBIOME(2017) Salaheen, Serajus; Biswas, Debabrata; Animal Sciences; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Campylobacter jejuni, a major enteric pathogen and a natural resident in the poultry gut, causes gastrointestinal illness followed by severe post-infection complications, including Guillain-Barré syndrome, reactive arthritis, myocarditis, and ulcerative colitis in humans. Risk assessment studies have projected a 30-fold reduction in human campylobacteriosis cases with only a 100-fold reduction in the number of C. jejuni colonizing the poultry gut. Current commercial poultry production practices involve use of antibiotic growth promoters (AGP); modulation of gut microbiota with AGPs for food safety and enhanced performance in poultry can be justified until acquisition of antibiotic resistance in zoonoses through inter-bacterial transfer of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) in a complex microbial community is considered. As an alternative, natural phenolics extracted from by-products of berry juice industry, with antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, anticarcinogenic, antioxidant and vasodilatory activities, demonstrate promising prospects. In this study, we adopted mass-spectrometry, microbiological, phylogenetic, and metagenomic approaches to evaluate bioactive phenolic extracts (BPE) from blueberry (Vaccinium corymbosum) and blackberry (Rubus fruticosus) pomaces as AGP alternative. We detected that major phenolics in BPE included, but were not limited to, apigenin, catechol, chlorogenic acid, cinnamic acid, coumarin, ellagic acid, eugenols, flavan, gallic acid, gingerol, glucosides, glucuronides, myricetin, phenols, quercetin, quinones, rhamnosides, stilbenol, tannins, triamcinolone, and xanthine. BPE reduced C. jejuni growth and motility in vitro, resulting in lower adherence and invasiveness to chicken fibroblast cells. Anti-inflammatory effects of BPE significantly reduced the expression of pro-inflammatory cytokine genes in chick macrophage cell line ex vivo. Furthermore, BPE reduced the colonization of C. jejuni in broiler cecum by 1 to 5 logs while increasing broiler weight by 6% compared to 9.5% with commercial AGPs. Metagenomic analysis of broiler gut indicated that BPE caused an AGP-like pattern in bacterial communities with a comparative increase of Firmicutes and a concomitant reduction of Bacteroidetes in broiler ceca. AGP supplementation clearly caused phage induction and a richer resistome profile in the cecal microbiome compared to BPE. Functional characterization of cecal microbiomes revealed a significant variation in the abundance of genes involved in energy and carbohydrate metabolism. Our findings established a baseline upon which mechanisms of plant based antimicrobial performance-enhancers in regulation of animal growth can be investigated.Item In Vitro Study of an Orange Oil Derived Alternative to Antibiotics in the Treatment of Bovine Mastitis(2015) Federman, Cassandra Skye; Biswas, Debabrata; Animal Sciences; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Bovine mastitis is a costly disease in the U.S. dairy industry. Its major causative agent Staphylococcus aureus is often unresponsive to antibiotic therapy. Our first study examined terpeneless, cold-pressed Valencia (CPV) orange oil as a possible alternative to antibiotic therapy in the treatment of S. aureus associated bovine mastitis. Orange oil showed significant inhibition of S. aureus growth and invasion of bovine epithelial mammary cells, but only modest reductions in pre-formed biofilms, which contribute to persistence of S. aureus infections. Our second study examined major components of terpeneless, CPV orange oil. Of four major compounds tested, only citral and linalool had significant inhibitory effects on S. aureus growth. In addition, they were capable of reducing pre-formed biofilms as well as association and invasion to bovine epithelial mammary cells. Part of this inhibition was due to downregulation of virulence and biofilm genes.Item Campylobacter spp. in bulk tank milk and milk filters from US dairy farms(2015) Del Collo, Laura P; Biswas, Debabrata; Animal Sciences; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Campylobacter spp. are a common cause of foodborne outbreaks associated with raw or unpasteurized milk, and Campylobacter spp. have also been detected on most dairies in the US. An estimate of the prevalence of thermophilic Campylobacter spp. in bulk tank milk (BTM) on US dairy operations was determined as part of the National Animal Health Monitoring System’s Dairy 2014 study. Campylobacter spp. were detected in the BTM and milk filters from 34.2% of the 234 dairies. Isolates were obtained from 18.4% of the dairies. C. jejuni was the most frequently isolated species, and this species is also the most common cause of human infection. When resistance to a panel of nine antimicrobials was tested, 68.4% of C. jejuni isolates were resistant to tetracycline. This survey suggests that BTM from US dairies can be contaminated with pathogenic Campylobacter spp., and the consumption of unpasteurized, raw milk represents a human health risk.Item Prevalence of Salmonella on Laying Hen Farms and Control of Colonization in Poultry Through Egg Yolk Antibodies(2014) Almario, Jose Alejandro Navarro; Biswas, Debabrata; Animal Sciences; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)In the United States, rates of foodborne illness caused by Salmonella have not changed significantly. One study in this thesis estimated Salmonella prevalence and antimicrobial resistance of various samples from conventional (n=181) and organic (n=252) farms. Rates of Salmonella contamination were significantly lower on conventional than organic farms. Antimicrobial resistance was significantly higher on isolates from conventional versus organic farms. These findings suggest that poultry production practices may have significant effects on prevalence and antibiotic resistance patterns of Salmonella. The other study assessed the efficacy of a Salmonella control strategy using anti-Salmonella antibodies, two chicken cell lines, an HD-11 macrophage and a DF-1 fibroblast line, and Salmonella serovars Typhimurium and Enteritidis. In DF-1 cells, treatment showed decrease adherence of the pathogen. However, in HD-11 cells, treatment showed an increase in pathogen adherence, indicating a more detailed understanding of chicken response to treatment with the antibodies is needed before full-scale implementation.