PhD student Kaylin Chasser was awarded the Student Research Paper Certificate of Excellence at the 2019 Poultry Science Association (PSA) Annual Meeting in Montreal, Canada. Her paper was recognized as being in the top 10% of over 500 graduate student papers submitted to the annual meeting. Chasser's paper was entitled, "Effect of select Gram negative enteric strains on inflammation in chicks." Dr. Lisa Bielke, assistant professor, supervised the research.
Chasser was born in Florida, but spent most of her life in Texas. She earned her BS in Animal Sciences from Ohio State in 2015 and her MS in 2018. After earning her PhD, she would like to spend a few year in industry before pursuing a career in academia.
The abstract from her paper is below.
Gastrointestinal (GIT) inflammation, caused by inappropriate microbial colonization, can predispose poultry to opportunistic infections and reduce growth performance. Two independent studies were completed to test wild-type Gram negative poultry GIT isolates for potential to induce inflammation and decrease body weight gain (BWG). In exp 1, non-inoculated control (NC) was tested against E. coli Huff and E2, chicks were orally dosed with 10 CFU/chick on day of hatch. Feed and BW were measured on d0, 7 and 15, and d15 serum was collected for chicken alpha-1-acid glycoprotein (AGP). In exp 2, NC, E2, LG, Huff, and Salmonella Typhimurium (ST) were tested, where EC groups received 10 CFU/chick and ST received 10 CFU/chick orally on d0. Feed and BW were measured on d0, 2, 8, and 15, with blood and yolk sacs (YS) collected on d2, 8, and 15 for serum AGP analysis and bacterial enumeration, respectively. In both experiments, all data were subject to Analysis of Variance as a completely randomized design, with significant differences among means determined using Student's t-test in Exp1 and Tukey's Honestly Significant Difference test in Exp2. Exp 1 resulted in decreased (p<0.05) BW on d7 and BWG d0-7 for Huff, as well as BW d15 and BWG d7-15 Huff and E2. Feed conversion ratio was increased (p<0.05) d0-7 and d7-15 for E2, and AGP on d15 was reduced (p<0.05) in Huff and E2 compared to NC, though NC was high, possibly due to pen effects. In exp 2, only LG reduced (p<0.05) BW and BWG on d2 and 8, as well as d0-2 and d2-8, respectively. No differences were observed in feed conversion ratio or number of retained YS observed at each time point compared to NS, but YS enumeration increased (p<0.05) in E2 on d8. Additionally, E2 was the only treatment that increased (p<0.05) AGP concentration on d15. Changes observed in BW and BWG for both Huff and E2 in exp 1 and LG in exp 2 indicate an influence of bacteria on growth parameters during week 1. In exp 2, trends of elevated CFU in YS for all inoculated groups compared to NC on d8 suggested a potential for bacterial entry into the GIT to cause inflammation. Additionally, AGP levels were elevated at d2 and d8 for all groups except ST, which may indicate AGP is not the best method to measure inflammation for ST. Elevated AGP in E2 on d15 indicated inflammation on d15. Both E2 and LG resulted in changes or trends indicating treatment effect on GIT inflammation. These isolates may serve as predisposing factors for opportunistic disease and ideal candidates for studying the role of pioneer colonization in health of poultry.