Triiodothyronine influences digesta kinetics and methane yield in sheep

2012 ◽  
Vol 52 (7) ◽  
pp. 572 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. C. Barnett ◽  
J. P. Goopy ◽  
J. R. McFarlane ◽  
I. R. Godwin ◽  
J. V. Nolan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Retention Time ◽  
Volatile Fatty Acid ◽  
Methane Yield ◽  
Saline Control ◽  
Microbial Protein ◽  
Faecal Excretion ◽  
Enteric Methane ◽  
Protein Output ◽  
Daily Changes ◽  
Control Injection

Methane yield from ruminants is positively correlated with mean retention time (MRT) of digesta, which is known to be influenced by the hormone triiodothyronine (T3).We hypothesised that a decrease in the MRT in the rumen in response to administration of a T3 solution to sheep would reduce their methane yield. To test this hypothesis, 10 mature Merino wethers were injected with T3 (300 µg) on two different protocols (daily; n = 5 and every second day; n = 5) and the effect on daily methane yield, digesta MRT, DM digestibility, rumen volatile fatty acid concentrations, microbial protein output and plasma T3 concentrations studied. Compared with when injected with saline (control), injection of sheep with T3 every second day resulted in decreased methane yield (P < 0.05) and lower acetate (P < 0.001), butyrate (P < 0.001) and propionate (P < 0.01) concentrations in the rumen. MRT of digesta, derived from faecal excretion of CoEDTA and Cr-mordanted fibre, were reduced in the total tract (P < 0.001) and hindgut (P < 0.01) but not in the rumen (P > 0.05). DM digestibility was not affected by injection of T3 every second day but water intake (P < 0.05) and urine output (P < 0.01) were increased. When sheep were injected with T3 daily, changes were only observed in plasma T3 concentration (P < 0.001) and volume of CO2 produced (P < 0.05). The results indicate that increasing plasma concentration of the thyroid hormone T3 within physiological levels reduces digesta retention time, especially retention time in the hindgut and leads to a reduction in enteric methane yield. Further work is warranted to assess whether plasma T3 concentrations may be indicative of enteric methane yield.

Forage brassica: a feed to mitigate enteric methane emissions?

2016 ◽  
Vol 56 (3) ◽  
pp. 451 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xuezhao Sun ◽  
David Pacheco ◽  
Dongwen Luo
Keyword(s):  
Methane Emissions ◽  
Methane Yield ◽  
Forage Crops ◽  
Enteric Methane ◽  
Winter Crop ◽  
Feeding Trials ◽  
Series Of Experiments ◽  
Forage Rape ◽  
Pastoral Farming ◽  
Enteric Methane Emissions

A series of experiments was conducted in New Zealand to evaluate the potential of forage brassicas for mitigation of enteric methane emissions. Experiments involved sheep and cattle fed winter and summer varieties of brassica forage crops. In the sheep-feeding trials, it was demonstrated that several species of forage brassicas can result, to a varying degree, in a lower methane yield (g methane per kg of DM intake) than does ryegrass pasture. Pure forage rape fed as a winter crop resulted in 37% lower methane yields than did pasture. Increasing the proportion of forage rape in the diet of sheep fed pasture linearly decreased methane yield. Feeding forage rape to cattle also resulted in 44% lower methane yield than did feeding pasture. In conclusion, reductions in methane emission are achievable by feeding forage brassicas, especially winter forage rape, to sheep and cattle. Investigating other aspects of these crops is warranted to establish their value as a viable mitigation tool in pastoral farming.

Effect of hydraulic retention time on pretreatment of blended municipal sludge

2011 ◽  
Vol 64 (4) ◽  
pp. 967-973
Author(s):  
S. Koyunluoglu-Aynur ◽  
R. Riffat ◽  
S. Murthy
Keyword(s):  
Retention Time ◽  
Volatile Fatty Acids ◽  
Hydraulic Retention Time ◽  
Operating Conditions ◽  
Methane Yield ◽  
Municipal Sludge ◽  
Volatile Solids ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Autothermal Thermophilic Aerobic Digestion ◽  
Pretreatment Processes

The objective of the present work was to evaluate the effect of hydraulic retention time (HRT) on hydrolysis and acidogenesis for the pretreatment processes: acid phase digestion (APD) and autothermal thermophilic aerobic digestion (ATAD) using blended municipal sludge. The effect of the different pretreatment steps on mesophilic anaerobic digestion (MAD) was evaluated in terms of methane yield, keeping the operating conditions of the MAD the same for all systems. Best operating conditions for both APD and ATAD were observed for 2.5 d HRT with high total volatile fatty acids (tVFA), and the highest methane yield observed for MAD. No significant difference was observed between the two processes in terms of overall volatile solids (VS) reduction with same total HRT. The autothermal process produced heat of 14,300 J/g VS removed from hydrolytic and acetogenic reactions without compromising overall methane yields when the HRT was 2.5 d or lower and the total O2 used was 0.10 m3 O2/g VS added or lower. However, the process needs the input of oxygen and engineering analysis should balance these differences when considering the relative merits of the two pretreatment processes. This is the first study of its kind directly comparing these two viable pretreatment processes with the same sludge.

Comparison of ryegrass and red clover on the fermentation pattern, microbial community and efficiency of diet utilisation in the rumen simulation technique (Rusitec)

2013 ◽  
Vol 53 (10) ◽  
pp. 1052 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Belanche ◽  
M. R. F. Lee ◽  
J. M. Moorby ◽  
C. J. Newbold
Keyword(s):  
Fatty Acid ◽  
Bacterial Growth ◽  
Volatile Fatty Acid ◽  
Red Clover ◽  
Gas Production ◽  
Molecular Techniques ◽  
Microbial Protein ◽  
Cellulolytic Bacteria ◽  
Available N ◽  
Rumen Microbes

An in vitro experiment was designed to investigate the effects of incubating two forages with a different energy/nitrogen (N) ratio [perennial ryegrass (GR) vs red clover (RC)] on the efficiency of N utilisation by rumen microbes. Second-cut forages were incubated in artificial rumen fermenters (n = 8). Ryegrass represented a supply of quickly available N and energy for the rumen microorganism which led to a rapid fermentation and bacterial growth 2–4 h after feeding. Ryegrass also promoted greater numbers of anaerobic fungi, methanogens and cellulolytic bacteria, which tended to increase neutral detergent fibre disappearance, gas production, volatile fatty acid and methane production than observed using RC diets. On the contrary, RC provided slowly degradable N and energy, which led to a relatively slow bacterial growth (4–8 h after feeding). In terms of diet utilisation, RC diets promoted a higher N outflow (mainly as undegraded-N) and efficiency of microbial protein synthesis per organic matter disappeared. Even so, microbial protein yield was similar on both diets indicating a better N capture by microorganisms fed GR than in those fed RC diets. The use of 15N-labelled forages demonstrated that this high ammonia incorporation by bacteria-fed GR occurred mainly during the early fermentation coinciding with the highest bacterial growth. In conclusion, this experiment demonstrated that the use of isotopic labelling combined with molecular techniques provided an insight into forage utilisation by the rumen microbes; GR diets led to a better efficiency of N utilisation compared with RC; moreover the lower N outflow on GR diets may be partially compensated for a higher proportion of microbial protein leaving the system and the greater volatile fatty acid production. These findings seem to indicate that RC grazing may increase the N pollution compared with GR without substantial improvements on the rumen function, however this must be confirmed in vivo.

An initial investigation on rumen fermentation pattern and methane emission of sheep offered diets containing urea or nitrate as the nitrogen source

2012 ◽  
Vol 52 (7) ◽  
pp. 653 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. Li ◽  
J. Davis ◽  
J. Nolan ◽  
R. Hegarty
Keyword(s):  
Fatty Acid ◽  
Methane Production ◽  
Volatile Fatty Acid ◽  
Rumen Fluid ◽  
Calcium Nitrate ◽  
Rumen Fermentation ◽  
Molar Ratio ◽  
Volatile Fatty Acid Concentration ◽  
Enteric Methane ◽  
Fermentation Pattern

The effects of dietary nitrate and of urea on rumen fermentation pattern and enteric methane production were investigated using 4-month-old ewe lambs. Ten lambs were allocated into two groups (n = 5) and each group was offered one of two isonitrogenous and isoenergetic diets containing either 1.5% urea (T1) or 3% calcium nitrate (T2). Methane production was estimated using open-circuit respiration chambers after 6 weeks of feeding. No difference in nitrogen (N) balance, apparent digestibility of N or microbial N outflow existed between treatments (P > 0.05). Animals offered the T2 diet lost less energy through methane than did those fed the T1 diet (P < 0.05). Total volatile fatty acid concentration, molar proportion of propionate, and the molar ratio of acetate to propionate in rumen fluid were not affected by dietary N source. Compared with urea inclusion, nitrate inclusion caused a significantly higher acetate and lower butyrate percentage in rumen volatile fatty acid. Nitrate supplementation tended to lower methane production by ~7.7 L/day relative to urea supplementation (P = 0.06). Methane yield (L/kg DM intake) was reduced (P < 0.05) by 35.4% when 1.5% urea was replaced by 3% calcium nitrate in the diet. Emission intensity (L methane/kg liveweight gain) was ~17.3% lower in the nitrate-supplemented sheep when compared with urea-fed sheep; however, the reduction was not statistically significant (P > 0.05). This study confirms that the presence of nitrate in the diet inhibits enteric methane production. As no clinical symptoms of nitrite toxicity were observed and sheep receiving nitrate-supplemented diet had similar growth to those consuming urea-supplemented diet, it is concluded that 3% calcium nitrate can replace 1.5% urea as a means of meeting ruminal N requirements and of reducing enteric methane emissions from sheep, provided animals are acclimated to nitrate gradually.

scholarly journals Effect of combinations of feed-grade urea and slow-release urea in a finishing beef diet on fermentation in an artificial rumen system

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 839-847
Author(s):  
Daryoush Alipour ◽  
Atef Mohamed Saleem ◽  
Haley Sanderson ◽  
Tassilo Brand ◽  
Laize V Santos ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Protein Synthesis ◽  
Fatty Acid ◽  
Volatile Fatty Acid ◽  
Dry Matter ◽  
Slow Release ◽  
Neutral Detergent Fiber ◽  
Microbial Protein ◽  
Microbial Protein Synthesis ◽  
Microbial Nitrogen ◽  
Slow Release Urea

Abstract This study evaluated the effect of combinations of feed-grade urea and slow-release urea (SRU) on fermentation and microbial protein synthesis within two artificial rumens (Rusitec) fed a finishing concentrate diet. The experiment was a completely randomized, dose–response design with SRU substituted at levels of 0% (control), 0.5%, 1%, or 1.75% of dry matter (DM) in place of feed-grade urea, with four replicate fermenters per dosage. The diet consisted of 90% concentrate and 10% forage (DM basis). The experiment was conducted over 15 d, with 8 d of adaptation and 7 d of sampling. Dry matter and organic matter disappearances were determined after 48 h of incubation from day 9 to 12, and daily ammonia (NH3) and volatile fatty acid (VFA) production were measured from day 9 to 12. Microbial protein synthesis was determined on days 13–15. Increasing the level of SRU quadratically affected total VFA (Q, P = 0.031) and ammonia (Q, P = 0.034), with a linear increment in acetate (L, P = 0.01) and isovalerate (L, P = 0.05) and reduction in butyrate (L, P = 0.05). Disappearance of neutral detergent fiber (NDF) and acid detergent fiber (ADF) was quadratically affected by levels of SRU, plateauing at 1% SRU. Inclusion of 1% SRU resulted in the highest amount of microbial nitrogen associated with feed particles (Q, P = 0.037). Responses in the efficiency of microbial protein synthesis fluctuated (L, P = 0.002; Q, P = 0.001) and were the highest for 1% SRU. In general, the result of this study showed that 1% SRU in combination with 0.6% urea increased NDF and ADF digestibility and total volatile fatty acid (TVFA) production.

Fermentable energy of concentrate foods estimated using four techniques

1998 ◽  
Vol 22 ◽  
pp. 259-261
Author(s):  
S. Fakhri ◽  
A. R. Moss ◽  
D.I. Givens ◽  
E. Owen
Keyword(s):  
United Kingdom ◽  
Retention Time ◽  
Degradation Rate ◽  
Research Council ◽  
Metabolizable Energy ◽  
Microbial Protein ◽  
Fermentation Products ◽  
Food Ingredients ◽  
Food Research ◽  
Direct Technique

Fermentable energy (FE) was defined in the latest United Kingdom metabolizable protein system as energy available for microbial protein growth and multiplication in the rumen (Agricultural and Food Research Council, 1992). In this system the FE value was calculated by subtracting the metabolizable energy (ME) of fat and ME of any fermentation products from the ME of the food. This estimation is indirect and largely based on whole tract digestion data, thus it can not take into account the influence of rumen outflow, fermentation and degradation rate and digesta retention time in the rumen. In addition, this approach does not take into account undegradable protein and /or starch. As a result, the precision of the FE values are questionable. Therefore a precise, accurate, rapid, cheap and direct technique to measure FE from food ingredients should be developed. Such a technique should consider the factors mentioned above. This work evaluated the ability of four techniques to estimate the FE value of concentrate foods for ruminants.

scholarly journals Reducing the carbon footprint of Australian milk production by mitigation of enteric methane emissions

2016 ◽  
Vol 56 (7) ◽  
pp. 1017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter J. Moate ◽  
Matthew H. Deighton ◽  
S. Richard O. Williams ◽  
Jennie E. Pryce ◽  
Ben J. Hayes ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Milk Production ◽  
Carbon Footprint ◽  
Dairy Industry ◽  
Methane Emissions ◽  
Dietary Lipid ◽  
Methane Yield ◽  
Cow Milk ◽  
Feed Conversion ◽  
Enteric Methane ◽  
Enteric Methane Emissions

This review examines research aimed at reducing enteric methane emissions from the Australian dairy industry. Calorimeter measurements of 220 forage-fed cows indicate an average methane yield of 21.1 g methane (CH4)/kg dry matter intake. Adoption of this empirical methane yield, rather than the equation currently used in the Australian greenhouse gas inventory, would reduce the methane emissions attributed to the Australian dairy industry by ~10%. Research also indicates that dietary lipid supplements and feeding high amounts of wheat substantially reduce methane emissions. It is estimated that, in 1980, the Australian dairy industry produced ~185 000 t of enteric methane and total enteric methane intensity was ~33.6 g CH4/kg milk. In 2010, the estimated production of enteric methane was 182 000 t, but total enteric methane intensity had declined ~40% to 19.9 g CH4/kg milk. This remarkable decline in methane intensity and the resultant improvement in the carbon footprint of Australian milk production was mainly achieved by increased per-cow milk yield, brought about by the on-farm adoption of research findings related to the feeding and breeding of dairy cows. Options currently available to further reduce the carbon footprint of Australian milk production include the feeding of lipid-rich supplements such as cottonseed, brewers grains, cold-pressed canola, hominy meal and grape marc, as well as feeding of higher rates of wheat. Future technologies for further reducing methane emissions include genetic selection of cows for improved feed conversion to milk or low methane intensity, vaccines to reduce ruminal methanogens and chemical inhibitors of methanogenesis.

scholarly journals Retrograde intrabiliary injection of amphipathic materials causes phospholipid secretion into bile. Taurocholate causes phosphatidylcholine secretion, 3-[(3-cholamidopropyl)dimethylammonio]-propane-1-sulphonate (CHAPS) causes mixed phospholipid secretion

1989 ◽  
Vol 258 (1) ◽  
pp. 17-22 ◽  
Author(s):  
R Coleman ◽  
K Rahman ◽  
K S Kan ◽  
R A Parslow
Keyword(s):  
Bile Acid ◽  
Fold Increase ◽  
Biliary Tree ◽  
Saline Control ◽  
Dose Dependency ◽  
Bile Sample ◽  
Retrograde Intrabiliary Injection ◽  
Single Compound ◽  
Phosphatidylcholine Secretion ◽  
Control Injection

The control of biliary phospholipid and cholesterol secretions by bile acid was studied by using the technique of retrograde intrabiliary injection. Taurocholate (TC), a moderately hydrophobic bile acid, taurodehydrocholate (TDHC), a hydrophilic non-micelle-forming bile acid, and 3-[(3-cholamidopropyl)-dimethylammonio]propane-1-sulphonate (CHAPS), a detergent, were individually administered by retrograde intrabiliary injection (RII) into the biliary tree, and bile acids, phospholipids and cholesterol subsequently appearing in the bile were measured. TC (1.3 mumol; 45 microliters) injected retrogradely provoked a 3.5-fold increase in biliary phospholipid output for 40 min, as compared with the saline control. Injection of 2.7 mumol of TC (90 microliters) caused a 7.5-fold increase in phospholipid output, which reached a peak at 12 min after RII, and phospholipid output continued for 40 min. Cholesterol output was also elicited under these conditions, showing both dose-dependency and extended secretion. Injection of 1.8 mumol of TDHC caused very little increase in either biliary phospholipid or cholesterol. Injection of 0.9 mumol of CHAPS (45 microliters) provoked a single substantial peak of phospholipid output in the 3 min bile sample. T.l.c. analysis of the phospholipid extracts of the bile collected after each compound showed, for TC, a single compound which co-migrated with the phosphatidylcholine standard, whereas for CHAPS substantial amounts of other phospholipids were present.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document