Investigation of cytolethal distending toxin (CDT) presentation in Arcobacter species isolated from chicken samples

In this study, Arcobacter species and the presence of cytoletal distending toxin (CDT) gene in broiler carcasses were investigated.In 22 commercially available broiler chickens, 22 (64.7%) Arcobacter species were isolated and identified at species level with mPZR. When these factors were evaluated in terms of species, A. butzleri presence was 55.9% and A. cryoaerophilus was % 8.8 in the samples examined. However, A. skirrowii could not be detected. It is detected that Arcobacter species were also accompanied by Campylobacter speciesin some of the same chicken samples,.C .jejuni in 20.6% and C. coli in 2.9% of A. butzleri isolated samples were detected but only A. butzleri by itself is detected in 32.4% of samples. C .jejuni in 5.9% and C. coli in 2.9% of A.cryoaerophilus isolated samples were detected but A.cryoaerophilus is always detected with other species in the samples. The detection of Campylobacter species in 32.3% of the isolated Arcobacter species suggested that these species could form a life form together to shape the biofilm. For this reason, nine Campylobacter species and nine Arcobacter species, selected from isolated strains, were examined for their biofilm forming capability in two different atmospheric conditions (aerobic and microaerophilic). Moderate biofilm formation was detected in only one Arcobacter species in the microaerophilic medium. The rest of the strains developed a weak biofilm formation. It was concluded that Campylobacter and Arcobacter species are not primary colonizer microorganisms in biofilm formation, but may exist in biofilm environment as secondary colonizers. In this study, the presence of cdt gene in Arcobacter species was investigated by molecular methods and also other probable toxin was investigated on DDT-1 cell line by MTT test. The presence of toxin was not detected in Arcobacter species.