Volume Number 7 ‖ Issue Number 2 ‖ Year 2022 ‖Page Number 15 WORLD JOURNAL OF BIOLOGY AND BIOTECHNOLOGY Analysis of bacterial diversity associated with commercial broiler chicken in Lahore, Pakistan Farhana Azam, Sana Tanveer, Basharat Ali Institute of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, University of the Punjab, Quaid-e-Azam Campus, Lahore, Pakistan Authors’ Contribution Azam, F. conducted the experimental work and collected the data; S. Tanveer prepared the draft of the manuscript; and B. Ali conceived this study, performed the statistical analysis * Corresponding Author’s Email Address basharat.ali.mmg@pu.edu.pk Review Proccess: peer review Digital Object Identifier (DOI) Number: https://dx.doi.org/10.33865/wjb.007.02.0540 ABSTRACT Chicken (Gallus gallus domesticus) is the most widely domesticated animal worldwide. Food biosafety is a great concern for consumers, producers, and public health organizations around the world. The poultry sector contributes 3.1% to the GDP of Pakistan. Infections caused by bacteria and viruses in poultry pose a serious threat to consumer health and economic burden in Pakistan while accurate figures are still unknown due to several factors, including inadequate surveillance, management, monitoring, and infection control. The chicken samples were procured from Shadman, Moon, Karim Block, Tollinten, Jallo and Wapda Town meat market of Lahore, Pakistan. Overall, 63 bacterial strains were isolated from complex and selective media and further processed for characterization. The 16S rRNA gene sequencing of bacterial strains were exhibiting genetic similarity with Proteus, Shigella, Providencia, Escherichia, Citrobacter, Klebsiella, Myroides, Enterococcus, Serratia, Staphylococcus, Bacillus, Macrococcus and Kluyvera. Bacterial strains were evaluated for antibiotic susceptibility testing, swarming motility, and biochemical tests. Antibiotic susceptibility was tested by using discs of tetracycline, gentamycin, streptomycin and chloramphenicol. Bacterial strains were recorded as resistant to all antibiotics except chloramphenicol. It was confirmed that chicken meat was infested with potential opportunistic human pathogens. To overcome the foodborne illnesses and to control the microbial load, food safety measures should be taken by following the standard protocols. In Pakistan, slaughterhouse environment, their sanitary conditions, storage, and transportation may be responsible in spreading the pathogens to food products. Keywords: Poultry, food borne illness, antibiotic susceptibility, biochemical tests, microbial diversity, food biosafety. INTRODUCTION: Chicken (Gallus gallus domesticus) occupies a distinctive place in our lives as good source of food and protein worldwide (Blake et al., 2021). It is the most common and distinguished domesticated animal, distributed across continents and islands from the Arctic to the Falklands. Chickens are responsible for the development of case study in domestication. The practice began around 8000 years ago in Southeast Asia. China is recognized as the center of origin for chicken’s domestication (Abdulwahid and Zhao, 2022). Depending on the nutritious value, chicken offer a more balanced and appropriate nutrient profile, predominantly amino acids, and proteins. Over time, the broiler meat business has evolved. Producing meat and meat products for human consumption is the aim of broiler farming. A significant portion of poultry production is comprised of the production of broilers, with global annual output expected to reach 105 million metric tons in 2023 and a predicted growth rate of 1.73% between 2019 and 2023 (Maharjan et al., 2021). In 2018, Pakistan’s share of world’s meat production, poultry meat production and chicken meat production were between 1% to 1.2%. Since 1971, Pakistan's poultry sector has expanded extraordinarily in line with global trends. With a current turnover of roughly 750 billion PKR, this expansion has been sufficiently reflected to meet industry requirements. In Pakistan, poultry accounts for 40–45% of all meat consumption. Along with 1.44 billion Kg of annual meat production, the poultry industry also turns out 17.5 billion annual table eggs. The share of poultry in Pakistan GDP is around 3.1% (Memon et al., 2021). The health and growth of chicken depend upon the largely diverse unexplored complex microbiological community that occupies the chicken gastrointestinal tract. The microbial community plays a critical role in maintaining intestinal homeostasis in chickens' gastrointestinal tracts, which are home to a variety of microorganisms. The intestinal flora is essential for mucosal immunity, intestinal growth, digestion, and host nutritional absorption. Chicken health like human is crucial for normal physiology. The chicken gut comprises of more than 100 trillion microorganisms that are knowns as gut microbiota These include various types of bacteria, fungi, viruses, and protozoa (Zmora et al., 2019). The ileum has a more diversified bacterial community than the duodenum, in comparison to the rest of the small intestine. In the duodenum, most of the microbiota population is made up of Lactobacilli and Bifidobacteria. Enterococci, Clostridiaceae and Lactobacilli are typically found in the jejunum, but the ileum is dominated by Bacteroides, Clostridia, Streptococci, Escherichia coli, Enterococci, Ruminococci, and Lactobacilli. The ceca have a more diversified, numerous, and stable microbial community made up of Clostridium, Enterococcus, Bacillus and Ruminococcus, as compared to the ileum. The cloaca, like the caeca, has a more diverse and abundant bacterial population, which includes Streptococci, Enterococci, Clostridia and E. coli (Wickramasuriya et al., 2022). Pathogenic bacteria found in chicken have a significant impact on both the poultry business and human health. Majority of the bacteria, including human pathogens like Campylobacter, E. coli and Salmonella, live in the avian host as passive commensals. Variations in the microbiota's make-up may have long-term effects on both the host bird and its associated products. Because dysbiosis, or imbalance in the microbiome, is linked to poor nutritional absorption, stomach irritation, and symptoms ISSN (Online) = 2522-6754 ISSN (Print) = 2522-6746 www.sciplatform.com Research Manuscript