Characterization of the cecal bacteria of normal pigs

One hundred ninety-two isolates from cecal contents of three normal weaned pigs were obtained by means of anaerobic roll tube methods and were characterized. Seventy-eight percent of the isolates were gram-negative. The most numerous species isolated from each of the pigs was Bacteroides ruminicola. This species accounted for 35% of the isolates that were characterized, and Selenomonas ruminantium accounted for 21% of the isolates. Other gram-negative bacteria isolated from all three pigs were Butyrivibrio fibrisolvens (6.0%) and Bacteroides uniformis (3.0%); predominant gram-positive isolates were Lactobacillus acidophilus (7.6%), Peptostreptococcus productus (3.0%), and Eubacterium aerofaciens (2.5%). The other 42 isolates were placed in 14 other species, and 5 additional isolates that did not fit well into existing species were not placed taxonomically. Fifteen of the isolates (representing nine species) produced urease.