scholarly journals Exploring the role of the rumen microbiota in determining the feed efficiency of dairy cows

2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
Itzhak Mizrahi ◽  
Bryan A. White
Keyword(s):  
Dairy Cows ◽  
Feed Efficiency ◽  
Plant Biomass ◽  
Taxonomic Composition ◽  
Food Resources ◽  
Gene Content ◽  
Energetic Efficiency ◽  
Rumen Microbiome ◽  
Coding Capacity

Expanding world hunger calls for increasing available food resources. Ruminants have the remarkable ability to convert human-indigestible plant biomass into human-digestible food products, due to a complex microbiome residing in the rumen compartment of their upper digestive tract. One way to tackle the problem of diminishing food resources is to increase the animals' energetic efficiency, i.e., the efficiency with which they convert energy from feed, thereby increasing food availability while lowering the environmental burden, as these animals would produce more and eat less. We hypothesize that the cow's feed efficiency is dependent on the taxonomic composition, coding capacity and activity of its reticulorumenmicrobiota. To test this hypothesis, three aims are defined: (1) Evaluation of the feed efficiency of 146 dairy cows and defining two groups representing the highest and lowest 25% using the Israeli group's unique facility; (2) Comparing these two groups for microbiota diversity, identity and coding capacity using next-generation sequencing and metagenomic approaches; (3) Comparing the reticulorumenmicrobiota metabolic activity parameters. We measured feed efficiency in 146 milking cows and analyzed the taxonomic composition, gene content, microbial activity and metabolomic composition of rumen microbiomes from the 78 most extreme animals. Lower richness of microbiome gene content and taxa was tightly linked to higher feed efficiency. Microbiome genes and species accurately predicted the animals' feed-efficiency phenotype. Specific enrichment of microbes and metabolic pathways in each of these microbiome groups resulted in increasing valuable metabolites and decreasing unusable ones such as methane in efficient animals. This ecological and mechanistic understanding of the rumen microbiome could lead to an increase in available food resources and environmentally friendly livestock agriculture.

scholarly journals Importance of Defluviitalea raffinosedens for Hydrolytic Biomass Degradation in Co-Culture with Hungateiclostridium thermocellum

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (6) ◽  
pp. 915
Author(s):  
Regina Rettenmaier ◽  
Martina Schneider ◽  
Bernhard Munk ◽  
Michael Lebuhn ◽  
Sebastian Jünemann ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Plant Biomass ◽  
Cellulose Hydrolysis ◽  
Taxonomic Composition ◽  
Process Conditions ◽  
Cellulose Breakdown ◽  
Metabolic Properties ◽  
Reactor Operating ◽  
First Time ◽  
Hydrolysis Of

Bacterial hydrolysis of polysaccharides is an important step for the production of sustainable energy, for example during the conversion of plant biomass to methane-rich biogas. Previously, Hungateiclostridium thermocellum was identified as cellulolytic key player in thermophilic biogas microbiomes with a great frequency as an accompanying organism. The aim of this study was to physiologically characterize a recently isolated co-culture of H. thermocellum and the saccharolytic bacterium Defluviitalea raffinosedens from a laboratory-scale biogas fermenter. The characterization focused on cellulose breakdown by applying the measurement of cellulose hydrolysis, production of metabolites, and the activity of secreted enzymes. Substrate degradation and the production of volatile metabolites was considerably enhanced when both organisms acted synergistically. The metabolic properties of H. thermocellum have been studied well in the past. To predict the role of D. raffinosedens in this bacterial duet, the genome of D. raffinosedens was sequenced for the first time. Concomitantly, to deduce the prevalence of D. raffinosedens in anaerobic digestion, taxonomic composition and transcriptional activity of different biogas microbiomes were analyzed in detail. Defluviitalea was abundant and metabolically active in reactor operating at highly efficient process conditions, supporting the importance of this organism for the hydrolysis of the raw substrate.

scholarly journals Heritable Bovine Rumen Bacteria Are Phylogenetically Related and Correlated with the Cow’s Capacity To Harvest Energy from Its Feed

mBio ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Goor Sasson ◽  
Sheerli Kruger Ben-Shabat ◽  
Eyal Seroussi ◽  
Adi Doron-Faigenboim ◽  
Naama Shterzer ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Dairy Cows ◽  
Plant Biomass ◽  
Physiological Traits ◽  
Host Genetics ◽  
Operational Taxonomic Units ◽  
Dependent Relationship ◽  
Rumen Microbiome ◽  
Holstein Friesian ◽  
Energy Harvesting Efficiency ◽  
Microbial Groups

ABSTRACT Ruminants sustain a long-lasting obligatory relationship with their rumen microbiome dating back 50 million years. In this unique host-microbiome relationship, the host’s ability to digest its feed is completely dependent on its coevolved microbiome. This extraordinary alliance raises questions regarding the dependent relationship between ruminants’ genetics and physiology and the rumen microbiome structure, composition, and metabolism. To elucidate this relationship, we examined the association of host genetics with the phylogenetic and functional composition of the rumen microbiome. We accomplished this by studying a population of 78 Holstein-Friesian dairy cows, using a combination of rumen microbiota data and other phenotypes from each animal with genotypic data from a subset of 47 animals. We identified 22 operational taxonomic units (OTUs) whose abundances were associated with rumen metabolic traits and host physiological traits and which showed measurable heritability. The abundance patterns of these microbes can explain high proportions of variance in rumen metabolism and many of the host physiological attributes such as its energy-harvesting efficiency. Interestingly, these OTUs shared higher phylogenetic similarity between themselves than expected by chance, suggesting occupation of a specific ecological niche within the rumen ecosystem. The findings presented here suggest that ruminant genetics and physiology are correlated with microbiome structure and that host genetics may shape the microbiome landscape by enriching for phylogenetically related taxa that may occupy a unique niche. IMPORTANCE Dairy cows are an essential nutritional source for the world’s population; as such, they are extensively farmed throughout our planet and subsequently impact our environment. The microbial communities that reside in the upper digestive tract of these animals in a compartment named the rumen degrade and ferment the plant biomass that the animal ingests. Our recent efforts, as well as those of others, have shown that this microbial community’s composition and functionality are tightly linked to the cow’s capacity to harvest energy from its feed, as well as to other physiological traits. In this study, we identified microbial groups that are heritable and also linked to the cow’s production parameters. This finding could potentially allow us to apply selection programs on specific rumen microbial components that are linked to the animal’s physiology and beneficial to production. Hence, it is a steppingstone toward microbiome manipulation for increasing food availability while lowering environmental impacts such as methane emission.

scholarly journals Nano Zero Valent Iron (nZVI) as an Amendment for Phytostabilization of Highly Multi-PTE Contaminated Soil

Materials ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (10) ◽  
pp. 2559
Author(s):  
Maja Radziemska ◽  
Zygmunt M. Gusiatin ◽  
Jiri Holatko ◽  
Tereza Hammerschmiedt ◽  
Andrzej Głuchowski ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Plant Biomass ◽  
Absorption Spectrometry ◽  
Zero Valent Iron ◽  
Festuca Rubra ◽  
Control Series ◽  
Flame Atomic Absorption ◽  
Zn Content ◽  
Nano Zero Valent Iron ◽  
Average Plant

In recent years, a lot of attention has been given to searching for new additives which will effectively facilitate the process of immobilizing contaminants in the soil. This work considers the role of the enhanced nano zero valent iron (nZVI) strategy in the phytostabilization of soil contaminated with potentially toxic elements (PTEs). The experiment was carried out on soil that was highly contaminated with PTEs derived from areas in which metal waste had been stored for many years. The plants used comprised a mixture of grasses—Lolium perenne L. and Festuca rubra L. To determine the effect of the nZVI on the content of PTEs in soil and plants, the samples were analyzed using flame atomic absorption spectrometry (FAAS). The addition of nZVI significantly increased average plant biomass (38%), the contents of Cu (above 2-fold), Ni (44%), Cd (29%), Pb (68%), Zn (44%), and Cr (above 2-fold) in the roots as well as the soil pH. The addition of nZVI, on the other hand, was most effective in reducing the Zn content of soil when compared to the control series. Based on the investigations conducted, the application of nZVI to soil highly contaminated with PTEs is potentially beneficial for the restoration of polluted lands.

INFLUENCE OF AMMONIATION OF, HIGH-MOISTURE BARLEY ON DIGESTIBILITY, KINETICS OF RUMEN INGESTA TURNOVER, AND MILK PRODUCTION IN DAIRY COWS

1989 ◽  
Vol 69 (1) ◽  
pp. 195-203 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. H. ROBINSON ◽  
J. J. KENNELLY
Keyword(s):  
Dairy Cows ◽  
Milk Yield ◽  
Dry Matter ◽  
Milk Protein ◽  
Energetic Efficiency ◽  
Vitamin Supplement ◽  
High Moisture ◽  
Key Words Barley ◽  
Kinetics Of ◽  
Pool Sizes

Three dairy cows with large rumen cannulae were fed totally mixed diets twice daily. Diets contained 49% whole crop oat silage, 38.5% high-moisture barley (HMB), and 12.5% protein-mineral-vitamin supplement on a dry matter (DM) basis. HMB had been ammoniated at target levels of 0, 0.65, 1.30, and 1.95 g per 100 g HMB DM. Actual levels achieved were 0, 0.63, 1.30, and 1.95 g ammonia per 100 g. Apparent digestibility of organic matter (OM), neutral detergent (ND) fiber, starch, and N were not significantly influenced by level of ammoniation of HMB, although there was a trend for increased N digestion. Total rumen pool sizes of wet ingesta and DM were not influenced by ammoniation levels of HMB, although proportion of ND fiber in rumen OM declined as level of ammoniation of HMB increased. Milk yield and production of milk protein and lactose increased as level of ammoniation of HMB increased. Data are interpreted to suggest that rumen digestion of dietary nonfiber components declined as level of ammoniation of HMB increased, although digestion of ND fiber was not influenced. These results support the hypothesis that ammoniation of HMB shifted the site of digestion of a portion of the dietary nonfiber component from the rumen to the intestine without influencing rumen microbial pool sizes or degradative activity. Greater energetic efficiency of intestinal digestion of dietary nonfiber components, as level of ammoniation of HMB increased, may have contributed to the increased milk yield. Key words: Barley (high-moisture), ammoniation, dairy cows, digestion

scholarly journals Flow Cytometric Assessment of the Viability and Functionality of Uterine Polymorphonuclear Leukocytes in Postpartum Dairy Cows

Animals ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 1081
Author(s):  
Leen Lietaer ◽  
Kristel Demeyere ◽  
Stijn Heirbaut ◽  
Evelyne Meyer ◽  
Geert Opsomer ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Dairy Cows ◽  
Polymorphonuclear Leukocytes ◽  
Reproductive Tract ◽  
Inflammatory Diseases ◽  
Flow Cytometric ◽  
Holstein Friesian ◽  
Uterine Health ◽  
Intracellular Proteolysis ◽  
Friesian Cows

Postpartum dairy cows experience impaired peripheral polymorphonuclear leukocyte (PMN) functionality, which has been associated with reproductive tract inflammatory diseases. However, it has not been elucidated yet whether endometrial PMN functionality is (equally) impaired. We developed a method for endometrial PMN isolation and flow cytometric assessment of their viability and functionality. We also evaluated PMN immunolabeling, using a specific bovine granulocyte marker, CH138A. Blood and endometrial cytobrush samples were collected in duplicate from seventeen clinically healthy Holstein-Friesian cows between 9 and 37 days in milk. The proportion of viable, apoptotic, and necrotic PMN in endometrial samples roughly ranged from 10 to 80%, indicating highly dynamic endometrial PMN populations in the postpartum uteri. Endometrial PMN functionality testing revealed that PMN immunolabeling increased the accuracy, although this protocol might influence the median fluorescence intensity of the sample. Phagocytosis seemed the most stable and reliable endometrial PMN function and could be assessed satisfactorily without prior CH138A immunolabeling. However, the interpretation of oxidative burst and intracellular proteolysis tests remains challenging. The correlation between peripheral and endometrial PMN functionality was poor. Further research is warranted to unravel the role of uterine PMN viability and functionality in bovine uterine health.

scholarly journals Genetics of alternative definitions of feed efficiency in grazing lactating dairy cows

2017 ◽  
Vol 100 (7) ◽  
pp. 5501-5514 ◽  
Author(s):  
A.M. Hurley ◽  
N. López-Villalobos ◽  
S. McParland ◽  
E. Lewis ◽  
E. Kennedy ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Dairy Cows ◽  
Feed Efficiency ◽  
Lactating Dairy Cows

scholarly journals MiR-125b regulates inflammation in bovine mammary epithelial cells by targeting the NKIRAS2 gene

2021 ◽  
Vol 52 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhuo-Ma Luoreng ◽  
Da-Wei Wei ◽  
Xing-Ping Wang
Keyword(s):  
T Cells ◽  
Epithelial Cells ◽  
Dairy Cows ◽  
Mammary Epithelial Cells ◽  
Mammary Epithelial ◽  
Luciferase Reporter ◽  
Regulation Mechanism ◽  
Bovine Mammary Epithelial Cells ◽  
Tnf Α

AbstractMastitis is a complex inflammatory disease caused by pathogenic infection of mammary tissue in dairy cows. The molecular mechanism behind its occurrence, development, and regulation consists of a multi-gene network including microRNA (miRNA). Until now, there is no report on the role of miR-125b in regulating mastitis in dairy cows. This study found that miR-125b expression is significantly decreased in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced MAC-T bovine mammary epithelial cells. Also, its expression is negatively correlated with the expression of NF-κB inhibitor interacting Ras-like 2 (NKIRAS2) gene. MiR-125b target genes were identified using a double luciferase reporter gene assay, which showed that miR-125b can bind to the 3′ untranslated region (3′ UTR) of the NKIRAS2, but not the 3′UTR of the TNF-α induced protein 3 (TNFAIP3). In addition, miR-125b overexpression and silencing were used to investigate the role of miR-125b on inflammation in LPS-induced MAC-T. The results demonstrate that a reduction in miR-125b expression in LPS-induced MAC-T cells increases NKIRAS2 expression, which then reduces NF-κB activity, leading to low expression of the inflammatory factors IL-6 and TNF-α. Ultimately, this reduces the inflammatory response in MAC-T cells. These results indicate that miR-125b is a pro-inflammatory regulator and that its silencing can alleviate bovine mastitis. These findings lay a foundation for elucidating the molecular regulation mechanism of cow mastitis.

scholarly journals Association of Feed Efficiency, Feeding Rate, and Behaviour with the Milk Performance of Dairy Cows

Dairy ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (4) ◽  
pp. 684-694
Author(s):  
Lenka Krpálková ◽  
Niall O’Mahony ◽  
Anderson Carvalho ◽  
Sean Campbell ◽  
Gerard Corkery ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Dairy Cows ◽  
Milk Production ◽  
Milk Yield ◽  
Feed Intake ◽  
Feed Efficiency ◽  
Feeding Behaviour ◽  
Feeding Rate ◽  
Feeding Time ◽  
Feed Conversion ◽  
Milk Performance

Identification of the associations of cow feed efficiency with feeding behaviour and milk production is important for supporting recommendations of strategies that optimise milk yield. The objective of this study was to identify associations between measures of feed efficiency, feed intake, feeding rate, rumination time, feeding time, and milk production using data collected from 26 dairy cows during a 3 month period in 2018. Cows averaged (mean ± standard deviation) 2.2 ± 1.7 lactations, 128 ± 40 days in milk, 27.5 ± 5.5 kg/day milk, 1.95 ± 0.69 kg feed/1 kg milk—the measure used to express feed conversion ratio (FCR), 575 ± 72 min/day rumination time, and 264 ± 67 min/day feeding time during the observation period. The coefficient of variation for rumination time (min/d) was 12.5%. A mixed linear model was selected for analyses. The most feed inefficient cows with the highest FCR (≥2.6 kg feed/1 kg milk) showed the lowest milk yield (24.8 kg/day), highest feed intake (78.8 kg), highest feeding rate (0.26 kg/min) and BCS (3.35 point). However, the relative milk yield (milk yield per 100 kg of body weight) was the highest (4.01 kg/day) in the most efficient group with the lowest FCR (≤1.4 kg feed/1 kg milk). Our study showed that the most efficient cows with the lowest FCR (≤1.4 kg feed/1 kg milk) had the highest rumination time (597 min/day; p < 0.05), feeding time (298 min/day; p < 0.05), rumination/activity ratio (4.39; p < 0.05) and rumination/feeding ratio (2.04; p < 0.05). Less active cows (activity time 164 min/day; p < 0.05) were the most efficient cows with the lowest FCR (≤1.4 kg feed/1 kg milk). The behavioural differences observed in this study provide new insight into the association of feed behaviour and feed efficiency with milk performance. Incorporating feeding behaviour into the dry matter intake model can improve its accuracy in the future and benefit breeding programmes.

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