Abstract
1. | Bacteria isolated from the chicken gut were tested for their ability to deconjugate bile acids and attach to chicken epithelial cells (crop squamous cells and duodenal brush borders). | ||||
2. | Clostridium perfringens, streptococci and some of the bifidobacteria and lactobacilli were able to deconjugate all 4 substrates whereas the bacteroides deconjugated only the taurine conjugates and the coliforms were completely inactive. | ||||
3. | None of the strains of Escherichia coli or streptococci attached to squamous cells, but the anaerogenic coliform, the strain of Klebsiella aerogenes and the lactobacilli did show attachment. | ||||
4. | Attachment to brush borders was obtained with the anaerogenic coliforms, K. aerogenes, 2 out of 5 of the lactobacilli, and 4 out of 9 of the streptococci, but none of the strains of E. coli |