Lactobacilli from turkeys.

Lactobacilli have been reported as being a predominant bacterial type in the intestinal tract of various warm-blooded animals. For instance, Crecelius and Rettger (1943) found that lactobacilli are the most prevalent bacteria in the intestinal tract of guinea pigs. Shapiro and Sarles (1949) reported that lactobacilli are the most numerous bacteria in most areas of the intestinal tract of chickens, and Harrison and Hansen (1950a) that anaerobic lactobacilli (the Lactobacillus bifidus type) comprise the largest part of the flora of the cecal feces of turkeys. As early as the turn of the century it was known that lactobacilli of this type predominate in the stools of breast-fed infants (Tissier, 1900). Weiss and Rettger (1934) conclude from their experiments that lactobacilli may constitute from 90 to 95 per cent of the fecal flora of breast-fed infants. The grampositive, anaerobic rods isolated from the stools of normal adults by Eggerth (1935) in our opinion were probably lactobacilli. It has been definitely demonstrated by Orla-Jensen et al. (1936) that both Lactobacillus bifidus and Lactobacillus acidophilus may be isolated from the stools of humans, the former being the predominant species among the noncoliform types. These workers also pointed out some important physiological differences between the two species, which not infrequently have been confused in the past. The obligate anaerobe, Lactobacillus bifidus, was discovered to be the most prevalent species of bacteria in the feces of turkeys (Harrison and Hansen, 1950a), but in addition a flora of facultative anaerobic lactobacilli was found. These organisms, although less numerous, were of particular interest because they differed in some respects from species in the literature. It is the purpose of this paper to describe the little known avian facultative anaerobic lactobacilli and to discuss their taxonomy.