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Updated: Jul 9, 2025

A Hybrid DNA Extraction Method for the Qualitative and Quantitative Assessment of Bacterial Communities from Poultry Production Samples
Published on: December 10, 2014
Quantitative characterization and dynamics of bacterial communities in ready-to-eat chicken using high-throughput
Zhengkai Yi1, Mengjia Qiu2, Xingning Xiao1
1State Key Laboratory for Managing Biotic and Chemical Threats to the Quality and Safety of Agro-Products, MOA Laboratory of Quality & Safety Risk Assessment for Agro-Products (Hangzhou), Institute of Agro-Product Safety and Nutrition, Zhejiang Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Hangzhou, China.
Abstract:
Ready-to-eat (RTE) chicken products are prone to bacterial contamination, posing foodborne illness risks. High-throughput sequencing (HTS) has been widely used to study the distribution of pathogenic and spoilage bacteria in RTE chicken products but lacks quantitative data on taxa abundances. In this study, we employed a method combining HTS with absolute quantification, using Edwardsiella tarda as an internal standard strain, to achieve the relative and absolute abundances of microbiota in RTE chicken products stored at 4 and 25 °C. The results showed that the addition of appropriate concentration of internal standard strains exhibited no significant impact on the structure composition, relative abundance, and absolute abundance of bacterial communities in chicken meat, achieving comprehensive absolute quantification in RTE chicken products. Furthermore, the absolute abundance of bacterial genera at the end of storage followed a log-normal distribution, with most genera having an absolute abundance between 103 and 105 CFU/g. This study provides insights into the quantification of bacterial communities in RTE chicken products, laying a foundation for the development of strategies to extend the shelf life of RTE products.

