Van Kessel, Andrew G.2007-08-282013-01-042008-08-302013-01-04200720072007http://hdl.handle.net/10388/etd-08282007-004432The commensal intestinal microbiota contributes substantially to intestinal development in the early neonatal period by mechanisms that are not yet elucidated but could contribute to novel strategies to improve intestinal health. A series of gnotobiotic experiments using isolator-reared caesarian section-derived piglets inoculated at 1 d of age with selected bacteria and euthanized at 14 or 15 days of age were performed to investigate intestinal morphology, inflammation and digestive function. In Experiment 1, piglets were maintained germfree (GF), mono-associated with Escherichia coli (EC), mono-associated with Lactobacillus fermentum (LF) or conventionalized with sow feces (CV). Increased (Pen-UShost-microbial interactioncommensal bacteriagnotobiotic pigtext