Gastrointestinal Microbial Assays of Archachatina marginata Under Varied Starvation Length

Abstract

The nature of microbes in the gastrointestinal tract suggest the feeding habit of an animal. In this experiment, the gastrointestinal microbial assays were determined in giant African land snails, Archachatina marginata. The experiment was conducted using a total of forty-five (45) apparently healthy and matured snails (Archachatina marginata) with weight range of 150-250, laid out in completely randomized design, with 3 treatments having 3 replicates (5 snails per replicate). The treatment consisted of 0 week, 4 weeks and 8 weeks of starvation. The content of the gut (crop, stomach, intestine) were subjected to serial dilution technique and pour plating for microbial culture of bacteria and fungi using nutrient agar (NA) and potato dextrose agar (PDA) respectively as culture media. Bacteria were counted off the petri dish to determine the colony forming unit (CFU) which were subjected to Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) using the Genstat package (12^th edition) and means were separated using Duncan Multiple Range Test where significant differences (p<0.05) existed. Colony characterization and staining technique using lactophenol cotton blue was employed for bacteria and fungi identifications respectively. A progressive decline in CFU was observed from the 0 – 8 weeks of starvation. The CFU was highest in the intestine at 0, 4 and 8 weeks of starvation. The diversity of microbes also varies at starvation lengths. Staphylococcus spp and Enterobacter spp were encountered in the intestine throughout the starvation length. Lactobacillus spp occurred in all examined organs at 0 weeks (non starved snails). Escherichia coli was present in the stomach at 4 weeks of starvation. Aspergillus nudilans and Aspergillus niger were present in the stomach at 0 and 4 weeks of starvation while Aspergillus flavus was cultured in the stomach in nonstarved snails. Present study helps to understand complexity of bacteria and fungi community in snail gut when they are fed and deprived of feed for 0, 4 and 8 weeks.