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Animal feeds harbor a complex microbial community. Most microbial approaches for analysis have focused on estimating pathogen levels in feeds such as Salmonella. Nonpathogens in feed have been characterized using conventional microbial culture-based approaches; however, these methods are limited due to the inherent selectivity of most cultivation and enumeration techniques. Molecular methods offer a means to assess overall microbial community composition in feeds. Developments in molecular sequencing, utilizing the variable region of the 16S rRNA gene, can be used to generate microbiome taxonomic identification of resident microbial populations on feeds, thereby characterizing overall microbial ecology responses in feeds and feed ingredients. This chapter discusses the previous efforts to characterize feed microbial populations and the potential application of microbiome methodology for describing feed microbial ecology.
- 1 Introduction
- 2 Culture-based assessment of animal feed microorganisms
- 3 Initial molecular approaches for assessing feed microbial quality
- 4 Microbiome analyses: definitions and general concepts
- 5 Microbiome applications for animal and poultry feeds
- 6 Conclusion and future trends in research
- 7 Where to look for further information
- 8 References