• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.17 no.10
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• pp.1400-1410
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• 2004

Eight crossbred (75% Holstein Friesian) cows in mid-lactation were randomly assigned to a switchback design with a 2x2 factorial arrangement to evaluate two nonstructural carbohydrate (NSC) sources (corn meal and cassava chips) with different rumen degradability and used at two levels of NSC (55 vs. 75%) with protein source (supplied by urea in the concentrate mix). The treatments were 1) Low degradable low level of corn (55%) 2) Low degradable high level of corn (75%) 3) High degradable low level of cassava (55%) and 4) High degradable high level of cassava (75%). The cows were offered the treatment concentrate at a ratio to milk yield at 1:2. Urea-treated rice straw was offered ad libitum as the roughage and supplement with 1 kg/hd/d cassava hay. The results revealed that total DM intake, BW and digestion coefficients of DM were not affected by either level or source of energy. Rumen fermentation parameters; NH3-N, blood urea nitrogen and milk urea nitrogen were unaffected by source of energy, but were dramatically increased by level of NSC. Rumen microorganism populations were not affected (p>0.05) by source of energy, but fungal zoospores were greater for cassava-based concentrate than corn-based concentrate. Milk production and milk composition were not affected significantly by diets containing either source or level of NSC, however concentrate than corn-based concentrate averaging (4.4 and 4.2, respectively). Likewise, income over feed, as estimated from 3.5% FCM, was higher on cassava-based concentrate than corn-based concentrate averaging (54.0 and 51.4 US$/mo, respectively). These results indicate that feeding diets containing either cassava-based diets and/or a higher of oncentrates up to 75% of DM with NPN (supplied by urea up to 4.5% of DM) can be used in dairy rations without altering rumen ecology or animal performance compared with corn-based concentrate.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.12 no.6
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• pp.904-907
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• 1999

The experiment was aimed at studying the effect of ruminal $NH_3-N$ levels on ruminal fermentation, microbial population, urinary purine derivative excretion, digestibility and rice straw intake in swamp buffaloes. Five, 3 to 4 years old, rumen fistulated swamp buffaloes were randomly assigned according to a $5{\times}5$ Latin square design to rceive five different intraruminal infusions of $NH_4HCO_3$ (0, 150, 300, 450 and 600 g/d) on a continuous daily basis. Rice straw as a roughage was offered ad libitum while concentrate was given at 0.8% BW daily. The results were that as levels of $NH_4HCO_3$ increased, ruminal $NH_3-N$ concentrations increased from 7.1 to 34.4 mg%. The highest digestibility and voluntary straw intakes were found at 13.6 to 17.6 mg% ruminal $NH_3-N$ levels; straw intake was highest at 13.6 mg%. Total bacterial and protozoal counts linearly increased as the ruminal $NH_3-N$ increased and were highest at 17.6 mg%. Total urinary purine derivatives and allantoin excretion were highest (44.0, 37.4 mM/d) at 17.6 mg% ruminal $NH_3-N$. Highest total VFAs (115 mM) were obtained a 13.6 mg% ruminal $NH_3-N$ while blood urea nitrogen significantly increased as ruminal $NH_3-N$ increased. The results from this experiment suggest that optimum ruminal $NH_3-N$ in swamp buffaloes is higher than 13.6 mg%, for improving rumen ecology, microbial protein synthesis, digestibility and straw intake.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.2 no.3
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• pp.435-438
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• 1989

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.24 no.5
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• pp.623-635
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• 2011

Inefficient rumen microbial fermentation is a major factor limiting intake of low quality roughage in ruminants. In this study, the effect of energy supplementation on rumen microbial fermentation, absorption of balanced digestion products and voluntary feed intake in sheep was investigated. A basal diet of a urea-treated mixture of wheaten chaff and barley straw (3:1 DM) containing 22.2 g N/kg DM was used. Four Merino-cross wethers weighing $45{\pm}4.38\;kg$ and fitted with permanent rumen and abomasal cannulae were allocated to four treatments in a $4{\times}4$ Latin square design. The dietary treatments were basal diet ($E_0$), or basal diet supplemented with sucrose (112.5 g/d) administered to the animals intra-ruminally ($E_R$), abomasally ($E_A$), or through both routes (50:50) ($E_{RA}$). Feed intake (basal and dietary) was increased (p<0.05) by sucrose supplementation through the rumen ($E_R$) or abomasum ($E_A$). However, there was no difference (p>0.05) in intake between animals on the control diet and those supplemented with sucrose through both intraruminal and abomasal routes ($E_{RA}$). The digestibility of DM and OM was highest in $E_R$ and $E_A$ supplemented animals. Although the rumen pH was reduced (p<0.001) in animals supplemented with sucrose entirely intra-ruminally ($E_R$), the in sacco degradation of barley straw in the rumen was not adversely affected (p>0.05). Intra-ruminal sucrose supplementation resulted in a higher concentration of total VFA, acetate and butyrate, while the pattern of fermentation showed a higher propionate: acetate ratio. Intra-ruminal supplementation also increased (p<0.05) the glucogenic potential (G/E) of the absorbed VFA. However, there was no difference (p>0.05) in microbial protein production between the four dietary treatments. Protozoa numbers were increased (p<0.05) by intra-ruminal supplementation of sucrose.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.326-332
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• 2001

On a urea-molasses-straw (3:15:82; UMS) based diet effect of graded levels of cottonseed cake (CSC) supplementation on the performance of native (Bos indicus) bulls has been studied for 167 days. Eighteen growing bulls of $129{\pm}13.4kg$ weight and about 14 months old were randomly allocated to three dietary treatments designed in a completely randomized design, having six animals in each treatment. Three dietary treatments were 0, 0.5 and 1.0 kg CSC per head/d. In addition, each animal also received ad lib. UMS, 4 kg Napier (Pennisetum purpureum) grass, 500 g of each of rice and wheat bran and 60 g mineral mix daily. For unit increase in CSC, total DM intake was increased by $1g/kg\;W^{0.75}/d$ but the straw DM intake decreased by $0.54g/kg\;W^{0.75}/d$. Whole gut digestibility of DM and OM was not effected but N and ADF digestibility increased with incremental increase in dietary CSC. For unit (1kg) increase in dietary CSC intake N and ADF digestibility increased by 10 (${\pm}1.155$) and 3 (${\pm}1.732$) unit respectively. Microbial N yield for the 0, 0.5 and 1.0 kg CSC were 5.63, 5.28 and 5.16 g/kg OM apparently fermented in the rumen respectively. For each gram increase in CSC, N intake and N balance increased by 0.626 (${\pm}0.015$) and 0.625 (${\pm}0.0814$) mg/kg $W^{0.75}/d$. High apparent N balance was contrasted with low live weight gain, e.g., for 1 kg increase in CSC supplementation, live weight gain increased by only 0.077 (${\pm}0.00288$) kg/d ($r^{2}=0.99$; p<0.01). The conversion efficiency was 12.98 kg CSC per kg of live weight gain. It was concluded that unless the protein is being protected from the rumen degradation, addition of CSC to UMS diet would have little nutritional or economic advantages.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.29 no.10
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• pp.1416-1423
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• 2016

This study was designed to investigate the effect of grape pomace powder (GPP), mangosteen peel powder (MPP) and monensin on feed intake, nutrients digestibility, microorganisms, rumen fermentation characteristic, microbial protein synthesis and nitrogen balance in dairy steers. Four, rumen fistulated dairy steers with initial body weight (BW) of $220{\pm}15kg$ were randomly assigned according to a $4{\times}4$ Latin square design to receive four treatments. The treatments were as follows: T1 = control, T2 = supplementation with monensin at 33 mg/kg diet, T3 = supplementation with GPP at 2% of dry matter intake, and T4 = supplementation with MPP at 30 g/kg diet. The steers were offered the concentrate diet at 0.2% BW and 3% urea treated rice straw (UTRS) was fed ad libitum. It was found that GPP supplemented group had higher UTRS intake and nutrient digestibility in terms of neutral detergent fiber and acid detergent fiber than those in control group (p<0.05). Ammonia nitrogen ($NH_3-N$) and blood urea-nitrogen concentration were higher in monensin, GPP and MPP supplemented groups (p<0.05). Total volatile fatty acids and propionate in the GPP group were higher than those in the control group (p<0.05) while acetate concentration, and acetate to propionate ratio were decreased (p<0.01) when steers were supplemented with GPP, monensin, and MPP, respectively. Moreover, protozoal populations in GPP, MPP, and monensin supplementation were significantly lower than those in the control group (p<0.05), while cellulolytic bacterial population was significantly higher in the control group (p<0.05). Nitrogen retention, microbial crude protein and efficiency of microbial nitrogen synthesis were found significantly higher in steers that received GPP (p<0.05). Based on this study it could be concluded that the GPP has potential as an alternative feed supplement in concentrate diets which can result in improved rumen fermentation efficiency, digestibility and microbial protein synthesis in steers fed on treated rice straw.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.26 no.8
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• pp.1144-1151
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• 2013

In this study, protein domains with cellulase activity in goat rumen microbes were investigated using metagenomic and bioinformatic analyses. After the complete genome of goat rumen microbes was obtained using a shotgun sequencing method, 217,892,109 pair reads were filtered, including only those with 70% identity, 100-bp matches, and thresholds below $E^{-10}$ using METAIDBA. These filtered contigs were assembled and annotated using blastN against the NCBI nucleotide database. As a result, a microbial community structure with 1431 species was analyzed, among which Prevotella ruminicola 23 bacteria and Butyrivibrio proteoclasticus B316 were the dominant groups. In parallel, 201 sequences related with cellulase activities (EC.3.2.1.4) were obtained through blast searches using the enzyme.dat file provided by the NCBI database. After translating the nucleotide sequence into a protein sequence using Interproscan, 28 protein domains with cellulase activity were identified using the HMMER package with threshold E values below $10^{-5}$. Cellulase activity protein domain profiling showed that the major protein domains such as lipase GDSL, cellulase, and Glyco hydro 10 were present in bacterial species with strong cellulase activities. Furthermore, correlation plots clearly displayed the strong positive correlation between some protein domain groups, which was indicative of microbial adaption in the goat rumen based on feeding habits. This is the first metagenomic analysis of cellulase activity protein domains using bioinformatics from the goat rumen.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.19 no.11
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• pp.1617-1622
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• 2006

Long-term storage of feeds or feedstuffs in high temperature and humid conditions can be difficult because of microbial contamination. Essential oil isolated from industrial waste citrus peel could be used as a preservative because it is likely to have anti-bacterial and anti-fungal activity. Our objective was to determine whether different levels (0.028, 0.056 and 0.112 g/kg) of citrus essential oil (CEO) would provide anti-microbial activity and enhance preservation of animal feed without influencing rumen fermentation. At 0.112 g/kg, CEO inhibited growth of Escherichia coli (ATCC 25922) and Salmonela enteritidis (IFO 3313). Growth of E. coli recovered after 24 h of incubation, but S. enteritidis continued to be inhibited for 72 h. Preservation of antibiotic-free diets for swine was assessed by observing anti-aflatoxin activity. Aflatoxin was detected in control feed samples on days 16 (8 ppb) and 21 (8 ppb) and in anti-fungal agent (AA) treated samples on days 16 (2 ppb) and 21 (4 ppb). However, aflatoxin was not detected in feed samples treated with CEO. Treatment with CEO and AA did not influence ruminal pH, dry matter digestibility (DMD) or organic matter digestibility (OMD) over 48 h of incubation in rumen fluid. Acetate and propionate were slightly higher with CEO treatment (p<0.05), but total concentration of volatile fatty acid (VFA) was not significantly affected by treatment. Ammonia-N concentration was slightly higher for the control treatment (p<0.05). This study showed that treating feed with CEO enhances preservation of animal feed without influencing in vitro rumen fermentation.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.5 no.3
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• pp.571-582
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• 1992

Soybeans were dry extruded at three different temperatures (125, 135 and $145^{\circ}C$) for 30 s. Four lambs fitted with cannulae in the rumen and abomasums were used in a balanced $4{\times}4$ Latin square design. Lambs were fed at 2 h intervals for 12 times a day with automatic feeder to maintain steady state conditions in digestive tract. A dual-phase marker system was used to estivate ruminal flow rate of both liquid and solid digesta. Objectives of this study were to determine the effect of extrusion temperature of raw soybean on the ruminal liquid and solid dilution rate, nitrogen digestion and flow at the abomasum and availability of amino acid in lambs. There were no significant effects of extrusion on liquid and solid dilution rate, and liquid volume. Ruminal liquid flow rate was not influenced by extrusion and ranged from 389 to 435 ml/hr. Extrusion had no influence on ruminal OM digestion and flow rate to the abomasums. Dietary N flow to the abomasums increased (p < 0.05) as extruding temperature increased. Extruding temperature had a significant effect (p < 0.05) on flow of N escaping ruminal degradation and ranged from 34.91 to 57.38%. Microbial N synthesized/kg OMTDR ranged from 27 to 37 g and highest with $145^{\circ}C$ ESB diet. Extrusion decreased the amount of degradable amino acid in the rumen and increased the supply of amino acid to the lower gut, especially with 135 and $145^{\circ}C$ ESB diets.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.558-566
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• 2016

Biotic agents such as fumarate-reducing bacteria can be used for controlling methane (CH₄) production in the rumen. Fumarate-reducing bacteria convert fumarate to succinate by fumarate reductase, ultimately leading to the production of propionate. Fumarate-reducing bacteria in the genus Enterococcus were isolated from rumen fluid samples from slaughtered Korean native goats. The enterococci were identified as Enterococcus faecalis SROD5 and E. faecium SROD by phylogenetic analyses of 16S rRNA gene sequences. The fumarate reductase activities of the SROD5 and SROD strains were 42.13 and 37.05 mM NADH oxidized/min/mg of cellular nitrogen (N), respectively. Supplementation of rumen fermentation in vitro with the SROD5 and SROD strains produced significantly higher propionate, butyrate, and total volatile fatty acid (VFA) concentrations than controls at 12 h; VFA concentrations tended to increase after 24 h of incubation. The generated CH₄ concentration was significantly lower in the SROD5 and SROD treatment groups after 24 h of incubation. These findings indicate that E. faecium SROD has potential as a direct-fed microbial additive for increasing total VFAs while decreasing CH₄ production in rumen fermentation in vitro.