Cultivation and Identification of Bacterial Isolates

At least 6 isolates per each media and FS were collected; specifically, more than 108 isolates per each animal. The colonies were cultivated in tubes containing non-selective Wilkins-Chalgren Anaerobe Broth supplemented with 5 g L⁻¹ GMO-Free Soya Peptone (both Oxoid, Basingstoke, UK), 0.5 g L⁻¹ L-cysteine, and 1 mL L⁻¹ Tween 80 (both Sigma-Aldrich, St. Louis, Missouri, USA) under anaerobic conditions [23 ] at 37 °C for 24 h. The purity was then checked by phase-contrast microscopy (Nikon Eclipse E200, Japan) in all tested bacterial isolates, which were later identified to the species level using Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption/Ionization Mass Spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) using an ethanol-formic acid extraction procedure with an HCCA matrix solution according to the manufacturer’s instructions (Bruker Daltonik GmbH, Bremen, Germany) and Modrackova et al. [24 (link)].