FIG 7.

Modulation of the juvenile cecal microbiota. Panel A shows the competitive indices (L. crispatus/L. johnsonii ratios) at 35 da of broiler chickens either nontreated or administered 8 log₁₀ CFU of either L. crispatus DC21.1 or L. johnsonii DC22.2 by cloacal gavage at 6 da. Competitive indices were calculated as the ratios of L. crispatus (OTU0006) to L. johnsonii (OTU0010) genome copy numbers per gram of cecal content determined by qPCR. Panel B shows the Pearson correlation of bird mass at 35 da against L. johnsonii gene copy number per gram of cecal content in birds administered L. johnsonii. Panel C shows the Pearson correlation of bird mass at 35 da against L. johnsonii gene copy number per gram of cecal content in birds administered L. crispatus. The dashed horizontal line represents the contemporary male Ross 308 performance objective (96).