Ecology of Streptococcus faecium bacteriophage in chicken gut.

The interaction in the chick gut between Streptococcus faecium and its phage was examined. In conventional chicks, large numbers of S. faecium and phage were found in the cecum and smaller numbers were found in the anterior gut. In gnotobiotic chicks associated with S. faecium SY1 and its phage, there was no marked effect on bacterial numbers, but resistance to the phage rapidly developed. Depression of chick growth caused by S. faecium strain SY1 was partially reversed by its phage.