FIG. 4.
Competition between E. coli strains BEN2908 and BEN2908ΔfosT to colonize the chicken intestine. Axenic chickens (A), SPF chickens (B), or SPF chickens receiving a dietary supplement of 0.5% scFOS in drinking water (C) were fed with strains BEN2908 and BEN2908ΔfosT together (each at 5 × 106 CFU/chicken). The proportion of each strain in animal feces was monitored over time, and CI were calculated. Horizontal bars indicate the geometric means of CI, and diamonds indicate individual CI. Statistical analyses were conducted using the Mann-Whitney U test, measuring the difference between CI in feces samples and in the inoculum. The calculated P values are presented, with values below 0.05 considered significant.