• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
• /
• v.29 no.9
• /
• pp.1280-1286
• /
• 2016

This study was aimed to evaluate the in vitro effects of medicinal herb extracts (MHEs) on ruminal fermentation characteristics and the inhibition of protozoa to reduce methane production in the rumen. A fistulated Hanwoo was used as a donor of rumen fluid. The MHEs (T1, Veratrum patulum; T2, Iris ensata var. spontanea; T3, Arisaema ringens; T4, Carduus crispus; T5, Pueraria thunbergiana) were added to the in vitro fermentation bottles containing the rumen fluid and medium. Total volatile fatty acid (tVFA), total gas production, gas profiles, and the ruminal microbe communities were measured. The tVFA concentration was increased or decreased as compared to the control, and there was a significant (p<0.05) difference after 24 h incubation. pH and ruminal disappearance of dry matter did not show significant difference. As the in vitro ruminal fermentation progressed, total gas production in added MHEs was increased, while the methane production was decreased compared to the control. In particular, Arisaema ringens extract led to decrease methane production by more than 43%. In addition, the result of real-time polymerase chain reaction indicted that the protozoa population in all added MHEs decreased more than that of the control. In conclusion, the results of this study indicated that MHEs could have properties that decrease ruminal methanogenesis by inhibiting protozoa species and might be promising feed additives for ruminants.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
• /
• v.31 no.8
• /
• pp.1205-1212
• /
• 2018

Objective: The aim of this experiment was to evaluate the effects of different dietary ratio of metabolizable glucose (MG) to metabolizable protein (MP) on growth performance, blood metabolites, rumen fermentation parameters and the ruminal microbial community of 8 to 10-month-old heifers. Methods: A total of 24 Holstein heifers weighing an average of 282.90 kg (8 month of age) were randomly assigned to four groups of six. The heifers were fed one of four diets of different dietary MG/MP (0.97, 1.07, 1.13, and 1.26). Results: The results showed that the ratio of MG/MP affected the growth performance, blood metabolites, rumen fermentation parameters and the ruminal microbial community of heifers. The average daily gain of heifers was enhanced by increasing the ratio of MG/MP (p<0.05). The concentration of blood urea nitrogen, cholesterol, and low density lipoprotein cholesterol as well as the concentration of total volatile fatty acid in the rumen fluid of heifers decreased with the improvement in the ratio of dietary MG/MP (p<0.05). However, the relative amount of Ruminococcus albus and Butyrivibrio fibrisolvens in the rumen of heifers was increased significantly (p<0.05) when the dietary MG/MP increased. At the same time, with the improvement in dietary MG/MP, the amount of Fibrobacter succinogenes increased (p = 0.08). Conclusion: A diet with an optimal ratio (1.13) of MG/MP was beneficial for the improvement of growth, rumen fermentation, dietary protein and energy utilization of 8 to 10-month-old dairy heifers in this experiment.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
• /
• v.30 no.10
• /
• pp.1416-1424
• /
• 2017

Objective: The objective of this study was to examine the effects of alfalfa flavonoids on the production performance, immunity, and ruminal fermentation of dairy cows. Methods: The experiments employed four primiparous Holstein cows fitted with ruminal cannulas, and used a $4{\times}4$ Latin square design. Cattle were fed total mixed ration supplemented with 0 (control group, Con), 20, 60, or 100 mg of alfalfa flavonoids extract (AFE) per kg of dairy cow body weight (BW). Results: The feed intake of the group receiving 60 mg/kg BW of AFE were significantly higher (p<0.05) than that of the group receiving 100 mg/kg BW. Milk yields and the fat, protein and lactose of milk were unaffected by AFE, while the total solids content of milk reduced (p = 0.05) linearly as AFE supplementation was increased. The somatic cell count of milk in group receiving 60 mg/kg BW of AFE was significantly lower (p<0.05) than that of the control group. Apparent total-tract digestibility of neutral detergent fiber and crude protein showed a tendency to increase (0.05<$p{\leq}0.10$) with ingestion of AFE. Methane dicarboxylic aldehyde concentration decreased (p = 0.03) linearly, whereas superoxide dismutase activity showed a tendency to increase (p = 0.10) quadratically, with increasing levels of AFE supplementation. The lymphocyte count and the proportion of lymphocytes decreased (p = 0.03) linearly, whereas the proportion of neutrophil granulocytes increased (p = 0.01) linearly with increasing levels of dietary AFE supplementation. The valeric acid/total volatile fatty acid (TVFA) ratio was increased (p = 0.01) linearly with increasing of the level of AFE supplementation, the other ruminal fermentation parameters were not affected by AFE supplementation. Relative levels of the rumen microbe Ruminococcus flavefaciens tended to decrease (p = 0.09) quadratically, whereas those of Butyrivibrio fibrisolvens showed a tendency to increase (p = 0.07) quadratically in response to AFE supplementation. Conclusion: The results of this study demonstrate that AFE supplementation can alter composition of milk, and may also have an increase tendency of nutrient digestion by regulating populations of microbes in the rumen, improve antioxidant properties by increasing antioxidant enzyme activities, and affect immunity by altering the proportions of lymphocyte and neutrophil granulocytes in dairy cows. The addition of 60 mg/kg BW of AFE to the diet of dairy cows was shown to be beneficial in this study.

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
• /
• v.47 no.5
• /
• pp.759-768
• /
• 2005

The study was designed to estimate the in vitro rumen by-pass rate of both chromium methionine chelate as an organic supplement and $ClCl_3$ as an inorganic supplement. Rumen by-pass rates of the supplements were evaluted by comparing ruminal metabolites in rumen fluid and Cr and methionine contents in the body of ruminal microorganism. For in vitro digestion examination, basic nutrients for ruminal microbes were supplied with 7g(DM) of feed, 2g of rice straw, and 2g of corn silage per each incubation jar. Three treatments including Control(no supplementation of Cr), T1(1000ppb supplementation of $ClCl_3$) and T2(chromium methionine chelate supplementation equivalent to 1000ppb of Cr content) were prepared with five replications per each treatment. pH of T2 was lower than that of Control and T1 regardless of incubation time. Ammonia content was higher in T2 than in Control and T1 during first 6 hours of incubation. However, the ammonia content in Control was remained low after 6 hours. Total volatile fatty acids(VFA) content in control was increased constantly as incubation time was extended. Therefore, VFA content in T1 and T2 were significantly lower (P<0.05) than those of Control. Dry matter recovery rate by ruminal microorganism was the lowest in T1, however ruminal microbial population was increased most efficiently in T2 during 12 hours of in vitro incubation. Cr concentrations in the body of ruminal microbes were not different(P>0.05) between Control and T2, but it was significantly high in T1(P<0.05). Contents of methionine and cystine in ruminal microbes also were not different between Control and T2(P>0.05), but it was relatively low in T1. Based on the above results, the chromium methionine chelate was believed to by-pass rumen and could remain intact until it reaches small intestine compared to inorganic chromium. This results implies that chromium methionine chelate could be more effective to function in the small intestine of ruminant animals.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
• /
• v.17 no.1
• /
• pp.68-72
• /
• 2004

The effects of the addition of yeast on in vitro roughage degradability and methane production were investigated in order to clarify the effects of yeast on the rumen microbes and to establish methods of rumen manipulation. Three roughages (whole crop corn, rice straw and Italian ryegrass) were incubated for 3, 6, 12 and 24 h with or without dried beer yeast following the method described by Tilley and Terry. Using the same method, these roughages were incubated with or without yeast extract, albumin or purified DNA. In vitro methane production was measured with or without dried beer yeast at 12 and 24 h. The degradability of yeast was found to be 57 and 80% at 12 and 24 h, respectively. The rate of degradation of fraction b was 6.16%/h. There was a significant increase in roughage degradability at 6 h (p<0.05), 12 h (p<0.05) and 24 h (p<0.01) by dried yeast addition. The degradability of all three roughages was higher in the samples treated with yeast extract than in the no addition samples except in the case of rice straw incubated for 12 h. Nevertheless, the magnitude of increment was smaller with the addition of yeast extract than without the addition of yeast. With the addition of purified DNA, there were significant increases in roughage degradability at 6 h (p<0.01), 12 h (p<0.01) and 24 h (p<0.05); however, higher degradability values were detected in the samples to which albumin was added, particularly at 6 h. If the degradability values of the no addition samples with those of samples containing yeast, yeast extract, DNA and albumin were compared, the largest difference was found in the samples to which yeast was added, although it is worth noting that higher values were observed in the yeast extract samples than in the DNA or albumin samples, with the exception of the case of rice straw incubated for 24 h. Methane production was significantly increased at both 12 and 24 h incubation. The increment of roughage degradation and methane production brought about by the addition of dried beer yeast to the samples was thought to be due to the activation of rumen microbes. Water soluble fraction of yeast also seemed to play a role in ruminal microbe activation. The increment of degradability is thought to be partially due to the addition of crude protein or nucleic acid but it is expected that other factors play a greater role. And those factors may responsible for the different effects of individual yeast on ruminal microbes.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
• /
• v.30 no.4
• /
• pp.531-537
• /
• 2017

Objective: This experiment was conducted to explore the impact of diet on the ruminal microbial community in goats. Methods: Twelve goats were divided into two groups and fed complete feed (CF) or all forage (AF) diet. The total microbial DNAs in the rumen liquid were extracted. The V4 region of microbial 16S rRNA genes was amplified and sequenced using high-throughput. Information of sequences was mainly analyzed by QIIME 1.8.0. Results: The results showed that Bacteroidetes and Firmicutes were the most predominant microbial phyla in the rumen of all goats. At genus level, the abundance of fiber-digesting bacteria such as Ruminococcus and Lachnospiracea incertae sedis was significantly higher in AF than that in CF, while the levels of fat-degrading bacterium Anaerovibrio and protein-degrading bacterium Pseudomonas were opposite. The core shared genera, Prevotella and Butyrivibrio were widespread in the rumen of goats and no significant difference was observed in relative abundance between groups. Conclusion: We concluded that the richness of fiber-, protein-, and fat-digesting bacteria was affected by diet and tended to increase with the rise of their corresponding substrate contents in the ration; some bacteria shared by all goats maintained stable despite the difference in the ration, and they might be essential in maintaining the normal function of rumen.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Grassland and Forage Science
• /
• v.25 no.4
• /
• pp.307-318
• /
• 2005

This study was conducted to examine effects of brewery meal-based fermented feedstuff supplemented with Aspergillus oryzae(AO) or Saccharomyces cerevisiae(SC) on luminal micro-organism of Korean native cattle. Two cows equipped with luminal cannulas were used as experimental animals. Experiment was done with three treatment groups: $71.5\%$ of commercial feed and $28.5\%$ of com silage(control): $45.0\%$ of commercial feed, $26.5\%$ of fermented feedstuff supplemented with AO and $28.5\%$ of corn silage(TAO): $45.0\%$ of commercial feed, $26.5\%$ of fermented ffedstuff supplemented with SC and $28.5\%$ of corn silage(TSC). The number of total viable bacteria (p<0.05), anaerobic fungi and protozoa(p<0.05) was higher in TAO and TSC than in control. The number of proteolytic bacteria(p<0.05), cellulolytic bacteria and xylan fermenters tended to be higher in TAO and TSC than in control. The dry matter recovery (DMR) of protozoa was higher in TAO and TSC than in control(p<0.05). The crude protein (CP) content of total microbes and protozoa was higher in TSC than in control and TAO (p<0.05). The CP content of bacteria was higher in TAO and TSC than in control(p<0.05). The ether extract(EE) content of the total microbes was higher in TAO than in control and TSC(p<0.05), and the EE of protozoa and bacteria were higher in TSC than in control and TAO(p<0.05). The ratio of essential amino acids of total microbe was higher in control than in TAO and TSC(p<0.05). The ratio of methionine and alanine of bacteria was higher in TAO and TSC than in control(p<0.05). The results suggested that the feeding of fermented feedstuff supplemented with AO or SC had an influence on the numbers of ruminal microorganism and the changes of microbial body composition.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Grassland and Forage Science
• /
• v.39 no.4
• /
• pp.227-234
• /
• 2019

This study was performed to investigate the effect of heat-stressed environment on rumen microbial diversity in Holstein cows. Rectal temperature and respiration rate were measured and rumen fluid was collected under normal environment (NE; Temperature humidity index (THI)=64.6) and heat-stressed environment (HE; THI=87.2) from 10 Holstein cows (60±17.7 months, 717±64.4 kg) fed on the basis of dairy feeding management in National Institute of Animal Science. The rumen bacteria diversity was analyzed by using the Illumina HiSeq^TM 4000 platform. The rectal temperature and respiratory rate were increased by 1.5℃ and 53 breaths/min in HE compared to that in NE, respectively. In this study, HE exposure induced significant changes of ruminal microbe. At phylum level, Fibrobacteres were increased in HE. At genus level, Ruminococcaceae bacterium P7 and YAD3003, Butyrivibrio sp. AE2032, Erysipelotrichaceae bacterium NK3D112, Bifidobacterium pseudolongum, Lachnospiraceae bacterium FE2018, XBB2008, and AC2029, Eubacterium celulosolvens, Clostridium hathewayi, and Butyrivibrio hungatei were decreased in HE, while Choristoneura murinana nucleopolyhedrovirus, Calothrix parasitica, Nostoc sp. KVJ20, Anabaena sp. ATCC 33047, Fibrobacter sp. UWB13 and sp. UWB5, Lachnospiraceae bacterium G41, and Xanthomonas arboricola were increased in HE. In conclusion, HE might have an effect to change the rumen microbial community in Holstein cows.