1620 Bacterial diversity in the feces of lambs fed purple prairie clover (Dalea purpurea Vent.) and alfalfa (Medicago sativa)

Our previous studies have shown that purple prairie clover (PPC) reduced the fecal shedding of Escherichia coli O157:H7 in lambs and generic E. coli in cattle, a response attributed to the presence of condensed tannins (CT). This study assessed the effect of PPC and PPC CT on the composition of the bacterial community in the feces of lambs using high-throughput 16S rRNA gene pyrosequencing. A total of 18 individually fed lambs were randomly...