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. 2021 Feb 4;10:632556. doi: 10.3389/fcimb.2020.632556

Figure 1.

Figure 1

The absence of microbiota reduced parasite load in caecal contents and in caecal tissues during infection. Conventional and germ-free chickens were orally infected with different doses of E. tenella. (A) Oocyst load in caecal contents. Oocyst load was evaluated at day 6, 7, and 9 post-infection. Medians are represented (One-Way ANOVA, Dunn’s multiple comparisons test; n ≥ 4; *P < 0.05; **P < 0.01 between germ-free and conventional chickens). (B) The parasite load in caecal tissues is lower as soon as day 2 post-infection in germ-free chickens compared to conventional chickens. To be able to detect the parasite, conventional and germ-free chickens were orally infected with high doses of E. tenella (500,000 sporulated oocysts) for 2 days and 3.5 days of infection. The parasite load in caecal tissues was evaluated by RT-qPCR using the mean transcript expression of Et18S and Etprofilin relative to host housekeeping genes (Gallus gallus gapdh and g10) using the 2-ΔCt formula: Ct Et housekeeping genes – Ct host housekeeping genes. Medians are represented (Mann-Whitney; n ≥ 4; *P < 0.05; ****P < 0.0001 between germ-free and conventional chickens).