This trial was conducted to evaluate the effect of antimicrobial supplementation (association of 50 ppm of colistin, 50 ppm of zinc bacitracin and 50 ppm of olaquindox) or herbal extract (based on thyme, clove and oregano at levels of 0, 700, 1,400 and 2,100 ppm) on Bacteria population of duodenum, jejunum, ileum and cecum of swine at 56 days old. Denaturing gradient technique in polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (DGGE) of amplicons from 16S rDNA V3 region was used. The number of detected amplicons changed according to intestinal segment analyzed and supplementation with growth promoter. Antibiotic and herbal extract decreased diarrhea incidence. Performance of animals supplemented with increasing levels of herbal extract and antibiotic was similar. The highest level (2,100 ppm) of herbal extract showed greater values of weight gain. It was possible to determine relations among the number of amplicons observed in the four segments of intestinal tract, growth promoter, daily weight gain and diarrhea incidence. The structure of Bacteria population of the intestinal tract of swine showed higher similarity, due to the sampling site than the growth promoter.
growth promoters; performance; polyacrylamide; microbiota; swine
