Campylobacter is the most frequent foodborne zoonotic bacteria worldwide, with chicken meat being overwhelmingly the most important reservoir for human infections. Control measures implemented at the farm level (i.e., biosecurity or vaccination), which have been successfully applied to limit other pathogens, such as Salmonella, have not been effective in reducing Campylobacter occurrence. Thus, new approaches are needed to fully understand the ecological interactions of Campylobacter with host animals to effectively comprehend its epidemiology. The objective of this study was to analyse longitudinally the gut microbiota composition of Campylobacter-infected and non-infected farms to identify any difference that could potentially be indicative of gut colonization by Campylobacter spp. Differences in the colonization rate and timing were observed at the farms that became positive for Campylobacter jejuni over the investigated time points, even though in positive tests, the occurrence of Campylobacter jejuni gut colonization was not observed before the second week of the life of the birds. Significant differences were observed in the abundances of specific bacterial taxa between the microbiota of individuals belonging to farms that became Campylobacter positive during the study and those who remained negative with particular reference to Bacteroidales and Clostridiales, respectively. Moreover, Campylobacter colonization dramatically influenced the microbiota richness, although to a different extent depending on the infection timing. Finally, a key role of Faecalibacterium and Lactobacillus genera on the Campylobacter microbial network was observed. Understanding the ecology of the Campylobacter interaction with host microbiota during infection could support novel approaches for broiler microbial barrier restoration. Therefore, evidence obtained through this study can be used to identify options to reduce the incidence of infection at a primary production level based on the targeted influence of the intestinal microbiota, thus helping develop new control strategies in order to mitigate the risk of human exposure to Campylobacter by chicken meat consumption.

中文翻译：

---

弯曲杆菌与商品肉鸡盲肠微生物群落之间的相互作用

弯曲杆菌是世界上最常见的食源性人畜共患细菌，其中绝大多数是鸡肉，是人类感染的最重要储库。在农场一级实施的控制措施（即生物安全性或疫苗接种）已成功应用于限制其他病原体（如沙门氏菌），但并未有效减少弯曲杆菌的发生。因此，需要新的方法来充分了解弯曲杆菌与宿主动物的生态相互作用，以有效地了解其流行病学。这项研究的目的是纵向分析弯曲杆菌的肠道菌群组成感染和未感染的猪场，以识别可能表明弯曲杆菌属细菌定居的任何差异。在调查的时间点上观察到空肠弯曲菌呈阳性的猪场的定殖率和时间存在差异，即使在阳性试验中，在鸡的生命的第二周之前未观察到空肠弯曲菌肠道定殖的发生。在研究期间变成弯曲杆菌阳性的农场个体的微生物群与特别提到拟杆菌属而阴性的个体的微生物群之间，在特定细菌类群的丰度上观察到了显着差异。和梭菌。而且，弯曲杆菌的定殖极大地影响了菌群的丰富度，尽管在不同程度上取决于感染的时机。最后，观察到Faecalibacterium和Lactobacillus属在弯曲杆菌微生物网络中的关键作用。了解弯曲杆菌的生态在感染过程中与宿主菌群的相互作用可以支持肉鸡微生物屏障恢复的新方法。因此，通过本研究获得的证据可用于根据肠道菌群的目标影响，在初级生产水平上降低感染发生率的选择方案，从而有助于制定新的控制策略，以减轻人类接触细菌的风险。弯曲杆菌可通过鸡肉食用。