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Frontiers in Veterinary Science 2020The study investigated amelioration effects of coconut oil (CO) on growth performance, nutrient digestibility, ruminal fermentation, and blood metabolites in Hainan...
The study investigated amelioration effects of coconut oil (CO) on growth performance, nutrient digestibility, ruminal fermentation, and blood metabolites in Hainan Black goat kids. Twenty-four Hainan Black goat kids (10 days of age) were assigned randomly to four treatments for 90 days, including pre-weaning (10-70 d of age) and post-weaning (70-100 d of age) days. The treatment regimens were control (CON), low CO (LCO), medium CO (MCO), and high CO (HCO) with 0, 4, 6, 8 g CO per goat per day, respectively. During the pre-weaning period, the average daily gain (ADG) linearly and quadratically increased ( < 0.05), whereas the average daily feed intake (ADFI) linearly decreased, and the feed conversion ratio (FCR) also decreased linearly and quadratically by increasing CO supplementation ( < 0.05). During the post-weaning period, increasing CO supplementation linearly and quadratically increased the BW at 100 days and ADG ( < 0.05), but quadratically decreased the ADFI and FCR ( < 0.05). The digestibility of ether extract (EE) linearly and quadratically increased with increasing CO supplementation ( < 0.05). Supplementation of CO linearly increased ruminal pH (P < 0.05), but linearly decreased ( < 0.05) ammonia-N, total VFAs, molar proportions of acetate, ruminal microbial enzyme activity of carboxymethyl-cellulase, cellobiase, xylanase, pectinase and α-amylase, and number of total protozoa, the abundance of , and . The estimated methane emission decreased linearly and quadratically with increasing CO addition ( < 0.05). The serum concentration of triglycerides (TG), non-esterified fatty acids (NEFA) and growth hormone (GH) linearly ( < 0.05) increased by raising the CO supplementation. The present results indicate that CO supplementation at 6 g/day per goats is optimum due to improved growth performance and decreased estimated methane emission. Supplementation CO up to 8 g/day depressed growth and feed conversion due to its suppression of growth performance, rumen protozoa, cellulolytic bacteria and microbial enzyme activity, and reduced ADF and ADF digestibility.
PubMed: 33426036
DOI: 10.3389/fvets.2020.622259 -
BMC Microbiology Nov 2020Ruminants burp massive amounts of methane into the atmosphere and significantly contribute to the deposition of greenhouse gases and the consequent global warming. It is...
BACKGROUND
Ruminants burp massive amounts of methane into the atmosphere and significantly contribute to the deposition of greenhouse gases and the consequent global warming. It is therefore urgent to devise strategies to mitigate ruminant's methane emissions to alleviate climate change. Ruminal methanogenesis is accomplished by a series of methanogen archaea in the phylum Euryarchaeota, which piggyback into carbohydrate fermentation by utilizing residual hydrogen to produce methane. Abundance of methanogens, therefore, is expected to affect methane production. Furthermore, availability of hydrogen produced by cellulolytic bacteria acting upstream of methanogens is a rate-limiting factor for methane production. The aim of our study was to identify microbes associated with the production of methane which would constitute the basis for the design of mitigation strategies.
RESULTS
Moderate differences in the abundance of methanogens were observed between groups. In addition, we present three lines of evidence suggesting an apparent higher abundance of a consortium of Prevotella species in animals with lower methane emissions. First, taxonomic classification revealed increased abundance of at least 29 species of Prevotella. Second, metagenome assembly identified increased abundance of Prevotella ruminicola and another species of Prevotella. Third, metabolic profiling of predicted proteins uncovered 25 enzymes with homology to Prevotella proteins more abundant in the low methane emissions group.
CONCLUSIONS
We propose that higher abundance of ruminal Prevotella increases the production of propionic acid and, in doing so, reduces the amount of hydrogen available for methanogenesis. However, further experimentation is required to ascertain the role of Prevotella on methane production and its potential to act as a methane production mitigator.
Topics: Animals; Bacteria; Buffaloes; Colombia; Euryarchaeota; Fermentation; Gastrointestinal Microbiome; Hydrogen; Methane; Prevotella; Propionates; Rumen
PubMed: 33246412
DOI: 10.1186/s12866-020-02037-6 -
Frontiers in Microbiology 2020The rumen microbiota is strongly associated with host health, nutrient absorption, and adaptability. However, the composition, functioning and adaptability of rumen...
The rumen microbiota is strongly associated with host health, nutrient absorption, and adaptability. However, the composition, functioning and adaptability of rumen microbiota in Tibetan sheep (TS) across different phenological periods are unclear. In this study we used sequencing of the V4-V5 region of 16S rRNA, qPCR technology and metagenomics to investigate the adaption of rumen microbiota to forage in different stages of phenology. In a grassy period, due to the high nutritional quality of the forage, TS can produce high concentrations of NH-N and short fatty acids by increasing the content of key bacteria in the rumen, such as Bacteroidetes, , , , , , , , and to aid in growth. In the withering period, there was a positive correlation between microorganisms which indicated the closely cooperation between microorganisms, and metagenomic analysis showed that the high genes (GHs and CBMs) and subtribe (GH8, GH12, GH45, GH6, GH9, GH5, GH10, GH3, GH52, GH11, GH57, CBM1, CBM4, CBM6, CBM16, CBM37, CBM13, CBM35, CBM42, CBM32, and CBM62) that encode cellulolytic enzymes were significantly increased when the host faced low quantity and quality of forage. Genes involved in metabolic pathways, fatty acid biosynthesis and biosynthesis of antibiotics were significantly enriched, which indicated that rumen microbiota could improve plant biomass deconstruction and energy maintenance in the face of nutritional deficiencies. In the regreen period, both the composition and function of rumen microbiota had obvious disadvantages, therefore, to improve the competitiveness of microorganisms, we suggest TS should be supplemented with high-protein feed. This study is of great significance for exploring the high altitude adaptability of TS.
PubMed: 33193243
DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2020.587558 -
Animals : An Open Access Journal From... Aug 2020The yak rumen microflora has more efficient fiber-degrading and energy-harvesting abilities than that of low-altitude cattle; however, few studies have investigated the...
The yak rumen microflora has more efficient fiber-degrading and energy-harvesting abilities than that of low-altitude cattle; however, few studies have investigated the effects of dietary energy levels on the rumen bacterial populations and the relationship between rumen bacteria and the intramuscular fatty acid profile of fattening yaks. In this study, thirty yaks were randomly assigned to three groups. Each group received one of the three isonitrogenous diets with low (3.72 MJ/kg), medium (4.52 MJ/kg), and high (5.32 MJ/kg) levels of net energy for maintenance and fattening. After 120 days of feeding, results showed that increasing dietary energy significantly increased ruminal propionate fermentation and reduced ammonia concentration. The 16S rDNA sequencing results showed that increasing dietary energy significantly increased the ratio of to and stimulated the relative abundance of , , , and populations. The quantitative real-time PCR analysis showed that high dietary energy increased the abundances of , , and at the species level. Association analysis showed that ruminal acetate was positively related to some intramuscular saturated fatty acid (SFA) contents, and was significantly positively related to intramuscular total polyunsaturated fatty acid content and negatively related to intramuscular total SFA content. This study showed that high dietary energy mainly increased ruminal amylolytic and propionate-producing bacteria populations, which gave insights into how the effects of dietary energy on rumen bacteria are related to intramuscular fat fatty acids of fattening yaks.
PubMed: 32842565
DOI: 10.3390/ani10091474 -
Scientific Reports Jul 2020The effect of soybean meal (SBM) replacement with fermented SBM (FSBM) on ruminal fermentation and bacterial abundance in Holstein calves was investigated in this study....
The effect of soybean meal (SBM) replacement with fermented SBM (FSBM) on ruminal fermentation and bacterial abundance in Holstein calves was investigated in this study. Thirty nine calves were randomized to: (1) control: 27% SBM + 0% FSBM (FSBM0, n = 13); (2) 18% SBM + 9% FSBM (FSBM9, n = 13); and (3) 13.5% SBM + 13.5% FSBM (FSBM13, n = 13). SBM contained a greater amount of large peptides containing 3 to 10 amino acids (AAs), while FSBM had a greater amount of ammonia nitrogen (NH-N), free AAs, and small peptides containing 2 to 3 AAs. The calves fed FSBM13 had the lowest acetic acid, NH-N, and the ratio of acetate to propionate, with the greatest concentration of caproic acid, valeric acid and isovaleric acid in ruminal fluid. Compared to those fed FSBM9 or FSBM13, the calves fed FSBM0 had the greatest proportion of Butyrivibrio fibrisolvens and Ruminococcus albus in rumen fluid. However, the ruminal abundance of Prevotella ruminicola in calves fed FSBM13 was greater than in calves fed FSBM0. Network analysis showed that the abundance of the Ruminococcus albus was associated with large peptides, and butyric acid was correlated with small peptide. Taken together, our findings suggest that FSBM may have the potential to boost calf performance by changing the fermentation products and the relative abundance of some members of the bacterial community in the rumen.
Topics: Animal Feed; Animal Nutritional Physiological Phenomena; Animals; Bacteria; Bacterial Physiological Phenomena; Cattle; Fermentation; Metagenome; Metagenomics; Peptides; Rumen; Glycine max
PubMed: 32694544
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-68778-6 -
Animal : An International Journal of... Dec 2020Guanidinoacetic acid (GAA) can improve the growth performance of bulls. This study investigated the influences of GAA addition on growth, nutrient digestion, ruminal...
Guanidinoacetic acid (GAA) can improve the growth performance of bulls. This study investigated the influences of GAA addition on growth, nutrient digestion, ruminal fermentation and serum metabolites in bulls. Forty-eight Angus bulls were randomly allocated to experimental treatments, that is, control, low-GAA (LGAA), medium-GAA (MGAA) and high-GAA (HGAA), with GAA supplementation at 0, 0.3, 0.6 and 0.9 g/kg DM, respectively. Bulls were fed a basal diet containing 500 g/kg DM concentrate and 500 g/kg DM roughage. The experimental period was 104 days, with 14 days for adaptation and 90 days for data collection. Bulls in the MGAA and HGAA groups had higher DM intake and average daily gain than bulls in the LGAA and control groups. The feed conversion ratio was lowest in MGAA and highest in the control. Bulls receiving 0.9 g/kg DM GAA addition had higher digestibility of DM, organic matter, NDF and ADF than bulls in other groups. The digestibility of CP was higher for HGAA than for LGAA and control. The ruminal pH was lower for MGAA, and the total volatile fatty acid concentration was greater for MGAA and HGAA than for the control. The acetate proportion and acetate-to-propionate ratio were lower for MGAA than for LGAA and control. The propionate proportion was higher for MGAA than for control. Bulls receiving GAA addition showed decreased ruminal ammonia N. Bulls in MGAA and HGAA had higher cellobiase, pectinase and protease activities and Butyrivibrio fibrisolvens, Prevotella ruminicola and Ruminobacter amylophilus populations than bulls in LGAA and control. However, the total protozoan population was lower for MGAA and HGAA than for LGAA and control. The total bacterial and Ruminococcus flavefaciens populations increased with GAA addition. The blood level of creatine was higher for HGAA, and the activity of l-arginine glycine amidine transferase was lower for MGAA and HGAA, than for control. The blood activity of guanidine acetate N-methyltransferase and the level of folate decreased in the GAA addition groups. The results indicated that dietary addition of 0.6 or 0.9 g/kg DM GAA improved growth performance, nutrient digestion and ruminal fermentation in bulls.
Topics: Animal Feed; Animals; Cattle; Diet; Dietary Supplements; Digestion; Fermentation; Glycine; Male; Nutrients; Rumen; Ruminococcus; Succinivibrionaceae
PubMed: 32580813
DOI: 10.1017/S1751731120001603 -
Animal Nutrition (Zhongguo Xu Mu Shou... Mar 2020Rumen fermentation parameters and microbiota were evaluated in 3 in vitro rumen fermentation experiments after addition of chestnut tannins (CWT) or an extract from...
Rumen fermentation parameters and microbiota were evaluated in 3 in vitro rumen fermentation experiments after addition of chestnut tannins (CWT) or an extract from Bertoni (SB) to substrates. A control (CTR) substrate was fermented alone or added with 1.5% of CWT or SB extracts in a batch culture system (Exp. 1, fermentation in 500 mL for 24 h) and in a subsequent continuous culture system (Exp. 2, fermentation in 2 L bottles for 9 d). Experiment 3 used the fermentation system of Exp. 1 and tested 7 doses of each extract added to CTR (additions of 0.2%, 0.4%, 0.6%, 0.8%, 1.0%, 1.2% and 1.4% for 48 h). The addition of CWT lowered ( < 0.01) the in vitro rumen ammonia concentration in all experiments and reduced the protozoa counts in Exp. 1 ( < 0.05). In contrast, the SB extract did not modify the ammonia concentrations, but significantly lowered the protozoa counts in all 3 experiments (reduction of 47% and 20% in Exp. 1 and 2, < 0.05; and a quadratic reduction in Exp. 3, = 0.63, < 0.01). Neither extract affected the fermentation in terms of gas production (Exp. 1 and 3) nor volatile fatty acids (VFA) yield (Exp. 1 and 2), if we exclude a reduction at the highest CWT concentration in Exp. 3. Changes in VFA profile were induced by CWT and were limited to reductions in the iso-valerate ( < 0.01, in Exp. 2) and iso-butyrate levels ( < 0.01, Exp. 2). The CWT increased the abundance of and and decreased that of ( < 0.01, < 0.05 and < 0.05, respectively). The SB extract increased the relative abundance of ( < 0.05). Both of the studied substances had an impact on rumen metabolism, with SB reducing protozoa counts and CWT lowering the rumen ammonia concentration. The effects of both extracts on the rumen were appreciable at low dietary doses, and the negative impacts on fermentation were limited to the reduction in protein degradation with the addition of CWT.
PubMed: 32211529
DOI: 10.1016/j.aninu.2019.11.009 -
BioMed Research International 2020A cattle-yak, which is a hybrid between a yak () and cattle (), is an important livestock animal, but basic questions regarding its physiology and environmental...
A cattle-yak, which is a hybrid between a yak () and cattle (), is an important livestock animal, but basic questions regarding its physiology and environmental adaptation remain unanswered. To address this issue, the present study examined the species composition and functional characteristics of rumen microorganisms in the cattle-yak of different ages (2 and 3 years old) by metagenomic analysis. We found that rumen microbial community composition was similar at the two ages. Firmicutes, Fibrobacteres, Euryarchaeota, Bacteroidetes, and Proteobacteria were the predominant phyla, with Firmicutes accounting for the highest percentage of bacteria in 2-year-old (48%) and 3-year-old (46%) animals. Bacterial species involved in lignocellulose degradation were detected in the rumen of adult cattle-yaks including , , , and , with being the most abundant. A total of 145,489 genes were annotated according to the Carbohydrate-active Enzyme database, which identified glycoside hydrolases as the most highly represented enzyme family. Further functional annotation revealed specific microflora and genes in the adult rumen that are potentially related to plateau adaptability. These results could explain the heterosis of the cattle-yak and provide insight into mechanisms of physiologic adaptation in plateau animals.
Topics: Age Factors; Animals; Bacteria; Cattle; China; Genome, Bacterial; Lignin; Male; Metagenome; Microbiota; Rumen
PubMed: 32190661
DOI: 10.1155/2020/3482692 -
Frontiers in Cellular and Infection... 2020Gut dysbiosis has been associated with several disease outcomes including diabetes in human populations. Currently, there are no studies of the gut microbiome...
Gut dysbiosis has been associated with several disease outcomes including diabetes in human populations. Currently, there are no studies of the gut microbiome composition in relation to type 2 diabetes (T2D) in Africans. Here, we describe the profile of the gut microbiome in non-diabetic adults (controls) and investigate the association between gut microbiota and T2D in urban West Africans. Gut microbiota composition was determined in 291 Nigerians (98 cases, 193 controls) using fecal 16S V4 rRNA gene sequencing done on the Illumina MiSeq platform. Data analysis of operational taxonomic units (OTU) was conducted to describe microbiome composition and identify differences between T2D and controls. The most abundant phyla were , and . , and were significantly lower in cases than controls ( < 0.001). Feature selection analysis identified a panel of 18 OTUs enriched in cases that included . A panel of 17 OTUs that was enriched in the controls included , and . OTUs with strain-level annotation showing the largest fold-change included (logFC = -3.1; = 4.2 × 10), (logFC = -2.5; = 0.005), (logFC = -1.76; = 0.01), all lower in cases. These findings are notable because supplementation with and has been shown to improve hyperglycemia and reduce insulin resistance in murine models. This first investigation of gut microbiome and diabetes in urban Africans shows that T2D is associated with compositional changes in gut microbiota highlighting the possibility of developing strategies to improve glucose control by modifying bacterial composition in the gut.
Topics: Actinobacteria; Bacteroidetes; Black People; Case-Control Studies; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2; Dysbiosis; Female; Firmicutes; Gastrointestinal Microbiome; Humans; Hypoglycemic Agents; Male; Metformin; Middle Aged; Nigeria; Urban Health
PubMed: 32158702
DOI: 10.3389/fcimb.2020.00063 -
Animal : An International Journal of... Jun 2020The combined addition of branched-chain volatile fatty acids (BCVFAs) and folic acid (FA) could improve growth performance and nutrient utilization by stimulating...
The combined addition of branched-chain volatile fatty acids (BCVFAs) and folic acid (FA) could improve growth performance and nutrient utilization by stimulating ruminal microbial growth and enzyme activity. This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of BCVFA and FA addition on growth performance, ruminal fermentation, nutrient digestibility, microbial enzyme activity, microflora and excretion of urinary purine derivatives (PDs) in calves. Thirty-six Chinese Holstein weaned calves (60 ± 5.4 days of age and 107 ± 4.7 kg of BW) were assigned to one of four groups in a randomized block design. Treatments were control (without additives), FA (with 10 mg FA/kg dietary DM), BCVFA (with 5 g BCVFA/kg dietary DM) and the combined addition of FA and BCVFA (10 mg/kg DM of FA and 5 g/kg DM of BCVFA). Supplements were hand-mixed into the top one-third of total mixed ration. Dietary concentrate to maize silage ratio was 50 : 50 on a DM basis. Dietary BCVFA or FA addition did not affect dry matter intake but increased average daily gain (ADG) and feed conversion efficiency. Ruminal pH and ammonia N were lower, and total volatile fatty acids (VFAs) concentration was higher for BCVFA or FA addition than for control. Dietary BCVFA or FA addition did not affect acetate proportion but decreased propionate proportion and increased acetate to propionate ratio. Total tract digestibility of DM, organic matter, CP and NDF was higher for BCVFA or FA addition than for control. Dietary BCVFA or FA addition increased activity of carboxymethyl cellulase and cellobiase, population of total bacteria, fungi, Ruminococcus albus, R. flavefaciens, Fibrobacter succinogenes and Prevotella ruminicola as well as total PD excretion. Ruminal xylanase, pectinase and protease activity and Butyrivibrio fibrisolvens population were increased by BCVFA addition, whereas population of protozoa and methanogens was increased by FA addition. The BCVFA × FA interaction was significant for acetate to propionate ratio, cellobiase activity and total PD excretion, and these variables increased more with FA addition in diet without BCVFA than in diet with BCVFA. The data indicated that supplementation with BCVFA or FA increased ADG, nutrient digestibility, ruminal total VFA concentration and microbial protein synthesis by stimulating ruminal microbial growth and enzyme activity in calves.
Topics: Ammonia; Animals; Cattle; Cellulase; Diet; Dietary Supplements; Digestion; Fatty Acids, Volatile; Female; Fermentation; Folic Acid; Gastrointestinal Microbiome; Nutrients; Rumen; Silage; Weaning
PubMed: 31840620
DOI: 10.1017/S1751731119002969