Hydrogen and Carbon Isotope Systematics in Hydrogenotrophic

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Hydrogen and Carbon Isotope Systematics in Hydrogenotrophic Okumura et al. Progress in Earth and Planetary Science (2016) 3:14 Progress in Earth and DOI 10.1186/s40645-016-0088-3 Planetary Science RESEARCH ARTICLE Open Access Hydrogen and carbon isotope systematics in hydrogenotrophic methanogenesis under H2-limited and H2-enriched conditions: implications for the origin of methane and its isotopic diagnosis Tomoyo Okumura1,2, Shinsuke Kawagucci1,2,3*, Yayoi Saito2,4, Yohei Matsui2,3, Ken Takai1,2,3 and Hiroyuki Imachi2,3 Abstract Hydrogen and carbon isotope systematics of H2O–H2–CO2–CH4 in hydrogenotrophic methanogenesis and their relation to H2 availability were investigated. Two H2-syntrophic cocultures of fermentatively hydrogenogenic bacteria 2 and hydrogenotrophic methanogens under conditions of <10 Pa-H2 and two pure cultures of hydrogenotrophic 5 methanogens under conditions of ~10 Pa-H2 were tested. Carbon isotope fractionation between CH4 and CO2 during hydrogenotrophic methanogenesis was correlated with pH2, as indicated in previous studies. The hydrogen isotope ratio of CH4 produced during rapid growth of the thermophilic methanogen Methanothermococcus okinawensis under 5 high pH2 conditions (~10 Pa) was affected by the isotopic composition of H2, as concluded in a previous study of Methanothermobacter thermautotrophicus “δ ” .This DH2 effect is a possible cause of the diversity of previously reported values for hydrogen isotope fractionation between CH4 and H2OexaminedinH2-enriched culture experiments. δ δ Hydrogen isotope fractionation between CH4 and H2O, defined by (1000 + DCH4 )/(1000 + DH2O), during hydrogenotrophic methanogenesis of the H2-syntrophic cocultures was in the range 0.67–0.69. The hydrogen isotope fractionation of our H2-syntrophic dataset overlaps with those obtained not only from low-pH2 experiments reported so far but also from natural samples of “young” methane reservoirs (0.66–0.74). Conversely, such hydrogen isotope fractionation is not consistent with that of “aged” methane in geological samples (≥0.79), which has been regarded as methane produced via hydrogenotrophic methanogenesis from the carbon isotope fractionation. As a possible process inducing the inconsistency in hydrogen isotope signatures between experiments and geological samples, we hypothesize that the hydrogen isotope signature of CH4 imprinted at the time of methanogenesis, as in the experiments and natural young methane, may be altered by diagenetic hydrogen isotope exchange between extracellular CH4 and H2O through reversible reactions of the microbial methanogenic pathway in methanogenic region and/or geological methane reservoirs. Keywords: Methane, Hydrogenotrophic methanogenesis, Hydrogen isotope ratio, Carbon isotope ratio, H2 availability, Culture experiments * Correspondence: [email protected] 1Laboratory of Ocean-Earth Life Evolution Research (OELE), Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC), 2-15 Natsushima-cho, Yokosuka 237-0061, Japan 2Department of Subsurface Geobiological Analysis and Research (D-SUGAR), Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC), 2-15 Natsushima-cho, Yokosuka 237-0061, Japan Full list of author information is available at the end of the article © 2016 Okumura et al. Open Access This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. Okumura et al. Progress in Earth and Planetary Science (2016) 3:14 Page 2 of 19 Background Yoshioka et al. 2008; Hattori et al. 2012; Stolper et al. Methane is a greenhouse gas, a primary product of meth- 2015; Wang et al. 2015) and by observations on anogenic archaea, a useful fuel for human activity, and the methane-bearing environments (e.g., Nakai et al. 1974; simplest organic molecular. The geochemical origins of Whiticar et al. 1986; Burke 1993; Waldron et al. 1999). methane in environmental samples have been investigated Large variation of the CH4–H2O hydrogen isotope in terms of global warming (e.g., Patra et al. 2011), limits fractionation has been reported in previous studies of the deep biosphere (e.g., Inagaki et al. 2015), exploration (Additional file 1), and the possible relationship between and development of energy resources (e.g., Kvenvolden the fractionation and the H2 availability in the methano- 1988), and prebiotic chemical evolution on the early Earth genic environment has been discussed (Burke 1993; (e.g., McCollom 2013). The geochemical origin of methane Yoshioka et al. 2008; Hattori et al. 2012; Stolper et al. can be classified into four types in terms of the carbon 2015; Wang et al. 2015). On the other hand, Kawagucci source (inorganic vs. organic) and the generation process et al. (2014) recently demonstrated that the hydrogen (chemical vs. microbial): abiotic, thermogenic, aceticlastic isotope ratio of substrate H2 also affects the hydrogen and methylotrophic, and hydrogenotrophic methane (e.g., isotope ratio of the produced CH4 during the rapid Kawagucci et al. 2013a). Because hydrogenotrophic growth of a thermophilic methanogen, Methanothermo- methanogenesis is one of the most important energy bactor thermautotrophicus strain ΔH, in H2-enriched metabolisms in living ecosystems in the ancient Earth batch culture. If this “δDH2 effect” occurs ubiquitously in and habitable extraterrestrial environments (McCollom other hydrogenotrophic methanogens and under other 1999; Takai et al. 2004; Hsu et al. 2015), distinguishing growing conditions such as low H2 availability, it may be hydrogenotrophic methanogenesis from the other necessary to reconsider the geochemical implications of methanogenic processes is a key to discuss whether life the traditional interpretation based on the CH4–H2O is present or absent there. hydrogen isotope ratio fractionation. The stable isotope ratios of carbon (13C/12C) and In this study, we therefore investigated the hydrogen hydrogen (D/H) in methane have been used as geochem- and carbon isotope systematics of H2O–H2–CO2–CH4 ical tracers to deduce its origin (e.g., Schoell 1980; 1988; during the growth of different hydrogenotrophic metha- Whiticar et al. 1986; Whiticar 1999). Although the use- nogens under various growth conditions and the effect fulness of the stable isotope tracers for methane origins of H2 availability. We tested two different species of have been long debated (Martini et al. 1996; Waldron methanogens under syntrophic growth conditions with et al. 1999; Tang et al. 2000), the stable isotope diagnosis fermentatively hydrogenogenic bacteria that attained 2 becomes more accurate by enhancing the understanding very low H2 availability (corresponding to <10 Pa-H2 in of stable isotope systematics with respect to each of the the headspace gas) and two different species of hydroge- methanogenic processes in addition to subsequent alter- notrophic methanogens under H2-enriched growth condi- 5 ation of the imprinted isotope signature. For this pur- tions (~10 Pa-H2 in the headspace gas). This is the first pose, carbon isotope fractionation between CH4 and attempt to monitor both hydrogen and carbon isotope CO2 in hydrogenotrophic methanogenesis has been well systematics in low-pH2 cultures, although the hydrogen studied by laboratory incubations (e.g., Valentine et al. and carbon isotope systematics have been investigated 2004; Penning et al. 2005; Takai et al. 2008). The magni- separately (Penning et al. 2005; Yoshioka et al. 2008) tude of the carbon isotope fractionation is thought to (Additional file 1). Compilation of the hydrogen and car- depend on the thermodynamic state of the methano- bon isotope fractionations from the experimental results genic environment: a greater 13C-depletion in the pro- and environmental observations reveals three provinces in duced CH4 occurs at a lower H2 availability. This the dataset and provides new insights into stable isotope relationship has been explained by “differential revers- diagnosis of the origin and fate of environmental methane. ibility” in the multistep pathway of methanogenesis from H2 and CO2 (Valentine et al. 2004): higher reversibility Methods exhibits at a lower H2 availability. Organism details and medium compositions In contrast to the carbon isotopic characteristics, the Table 1 provides information on the four culture sets hydrogen isotope characteristics of hydrogenotrophic and the experimental conditions used in this study. To methanogenesis remain less understood. In general, the assess the growth of methanogens under low H2-avail- hydrogen isotope ratio of produced CH4 is related solely ability conditions at different temperatures, two species to that of H2O (e.g., Daniels et al. 1980). Based on this of butyrate-oxidizing hydrogenogenic fermentative bac- finding, numerous studies have examined the CH4–H2O teria were cocultured with two species of methanogens hydrogen isotope fractionation both in experiments as syntrophic consortia at 55 °C and 25 °C (thermophilic using various methanogen cultures (Balabane et al. 1987; and mesophilic cocultures). The partial pressure of H2 2 Sugimoto and Wada 1995; Valentine et al. 2004; for the cocultures was lower than 10 Pa-H2 during the Okumura et al. Progress in Earth and Planetary Science (2016) 3:14 Page 3 of 19 Table 1 Experimental and organismal information examined in
Recommended publications
  • Ruminal Protection and Intestinal Availability of Rumen-Protected Methionine and Lysine in Lactating Dairy Cows
    Utah State University DigitalCommons@USU All Graduate Theses and Dissertations Graduate Studies 5-2019 Ruminal Protection and Intestinal Availability of Rumen-Protected Methionine and Lysine in Lactating Dairy Cows Sara Menchu Utah State University Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/etd Part of the Dairy Science Commons Recommended Citation Menchu, Sara, "Ruminal Protection and Intestinal Availability of Rumen-Protected Methionine and Lysine in Lactating Dairy Cows" (2019). All Graduate Theses and Dissertations. 7451. https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/etd/7451 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate Studies at DigitalCommons@USU. It has been accepted for inclusion in All Graduate Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@USU. For more information, please contact [email protected]. RUMINAL PROTECTION AND INTESTINAL AVAILABILITY OF RUMEN- PROTECTED METHIONINE AND LYSINE IN LACTATING DAIRY COWS by Sara Menchu A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of requirements for the degree of MASTER OF SCIENCE in Animal, Dairy, and Veterinary Sciences Approved: Jeffery O. Hall, D.V.M., Ph.D. Jong-Su Eun, Ph.D. Major Professor Committee Member Kerry A. Rood, M.S., D.V.M., M.P.H. Richard S. Inouye, Ph.D. Committee Member Vice Provost for Graduate Studies UTAH STATE UNIVERSITY Logan, Utah 2019 Copyright © Sara Menchu 2019 All Rights Reserved iii ABSTRACT Ruminal Protection and Intestinal Availability of Rumen-Protected Methionine and Lysine in Lactating Dairy Cows by Sara S. Menchu, Master of Science Utah State University, 2019 Major Professor: Dr. Jeffery O. Hall Department: Animal, Dairy, and Veterinary Sciences Rumen protected Methionine (MET) and Lysine (LYS) are critical for milk protein synthesis in dairy cows.
    [Show full text]
  • Altering the Gut Microbiome of Cattle: Considerations of Host-Microbiome Interactions for Persistent Microbiome Manipulation
    Microbial Ecology https://doi.org/10.1007/s00248-018-1234-9 HOST MICROBE INTERACTIONS Altering the Gut Microbiome of Cattle: Considerations of Host-Microbiome Interactions for Persistent Microbiome Manipulation Brooke A. Clemmons1 & Brynn H. Voy1 & Phillip R. Myer1 Received: 18 September 2017 /Accepted: 16 July 2018 # Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2018 Abstract The beef cattle industry represents a significant portion of the USA’s agricultural sect, with beef cattle accounting for the most red meat consumed in the USA. Feed represents the largest input cost in the beef industry, accounting for approximately 70% of total input cost. Given that, novel methods need to be employed to optimize feed efficiency in cattle to reduce monetary cost as well as environmental cost associated with livestock industries, such as methane production and nitrogen release into the environment. The rumen microbiome contributes to feed efficiency by breaking down low-quality feedstuffs into energy substrates that can subsequently be utilized by the host animal. Attempts to manipulate the rumen microbiome have been met with mixed success, though persistent changes have not yet been achieved beyond changing diet. Recent technological advances have made analyzing host-wide effects of the rumen microbiome possible, as well as provided finer resolution of those effects. This manuscript reviews contributing factors to the rumen microbiome establishment or re-establishment following rumen microbiome perturbation, as well as host-microbiome interactions that may be responsible for possible host specificity of the rumen microbiome. Understanding and accounting for the variety of factors contributing to rumen microbiome establishment or re-establishment in cattle will ultimately lead to identification of biomarkers of feed efficiency that will result in improved selection criteria, as well as aid to determine methods for persistent microbiome manipulation to optimize production phenotypes.
    [Show full text]
  • Biosynthesis of Conjugated Linoleic Acid and Its Incorporation Into Ruminant's Products**
    306 Biosynthesis of Conjugated Linoleic Acid and Its Incorporation into Ruminant’s Products** Man K. Song* and John J. Kennelly1 Department of Animal Science, Chungbuk National University, Cheongju 361-763, Korea ABSTRACT : Bio-hydrogenation of C18-unsaturated fatty acids released from the hydrolysis of dietary lipids in the rumen, in general, occurs rapidly but the range of hydrogenation is quite large, depending on the degree of unsaturation of fatty acids, the configuration of unsaturated fatty acids, microbial type and the experimental condition. Conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) is incompletely hydrogenated products by rumen microorganisms in ruminant animals. It has been shown to have numerous potential benefits for human health and the richest dietary sources of CLA are bovine milk and milk products. The cis-9, trans-11 is the predominant CLA isomer in bovine products and other isomers can be formed with double bonds in positions 8/10, 10/12, or 11/13. The term CLA refers to this whole group of 18 carbon conjugated fatty acids. Alpha-linolenic acid goes through a similar bio-hydrogenation process producing trans-11 C18:1 and C18:0, but may not appear to produce CLA as an intermediate. Although the CLA has been mostly derived from the dietary C18:2 alternative pathway may be existed due to the extreme microbial diversity in the reticulo-rumen. Regardless of the origin of CLA, manipulation of the bio-hydrogenation process remains the key to increasing CLA in milk and beef by dietary means, by increasing rumen production of CLA. Although the effect of oil supplementation on changes in fatty acid composition in milk seems to be clear its effect on beef is still controversial.
    [Show full text]
  • Amino Acids in Rumen Escape Protein COOPERATIVE EXTENSION
    UC COOPERATIVE EXTENSION CE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, DAVIS Amino Acids in Rumen Escape Protein 3. Plant and Non-Plant Source Protein Meals P.H. Robinson Cooperative Extension Specialist University of California, Davis, CA 95616-8521 Dairy cattle require dietary nitrogen and proteins to meet the requirements of their ruminal populations of microorganisms. If ruminal microorganisms, particularly bacteria, become nitrogen deficient then their growth and fermentative activity can be restricted leading to reduced digestion of structural carbohydrates and declining levels of feed intake. These microorganisms, which die and wash out of the rumen to the small intestine, provide a substantial proportion of the protein which is absorbed from the small intestine of the animal to meet the animal’s metabolic requirements for amino acids, which are the building blocks of proteins. However, with the exception of the lowest producing bovines, the microbial contribution alone is seldom sufficient to meet these metabolic requirements making enhancement of intestinally delivered supplies of protein from dietary feed sources critical if the animal is to reach its genetic potential for productivity. Plant and non-plant source protein meals comprise a portion of most successful rations for lactating dairy cows. These feedstuffs are typically added to the diet primarily to contribute protein, often intestinally absorbable protein, but also contribute variable quantities of non-structural carbohydrates that are available to be fermented by microbes in the rumen. Protein meals containing between 40 and 90% crude protein, of which 20 to 70% escapes the rumen undegraded, that is fed at 5% to 15% of total dry matter intake to high producing dairy cows will supply between 500 and 1000 g of intestinally absorbable amino acids.
    [Show full text]
  • Longitudinal Evaluation of Fecal Microbiota Transplantation for Ameliorating Calf Diarrhea and Improving Growth Performance
    ARTICLE https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-20389-5 OPEN Longitudinal evaluation of fecal microbiota transplantation for ameliorating calf diarrhea and improving growth performance Hyun Sik Kim1,5, Tae Woong Whon1,3,5, Hojun Sung1, Yun-Seok Jeong1, Eun Sung Jung 2, Na-Ri Shin1,4, ✉ Dong-Wook Hyun1, Pil Soo Kim1, June-Young Lee1, Choong Hwan Lee2 & Jin-Woo Bae 1 1234567890():,; Calf diarrhea is associated with enteric infections, and also provokes the overuse of anti- biotics. Therefore, proper treatment of diarrhea represents a therapeutic challenge in live- stock production and public health concerns. Here, we describe the ability of a fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT), to ameliorate diarrhea and restore gut microbial compo- sition in 57 growing calves. We conduct multi-omics analysis of 450 longitudinally collected fecal samples and find that FMT-induced alterations in the gut microbiota (an increase in the family Porphyromonadaceae) and metabolomic profile (a reduction in fecal amino acid con- centration) strongly correlate with the remission of diarrhea. During the continuous follow-up study over 24 months, we find that FMT improves the growth performance of the cattle. This first FMT trial in ruminants suggest that FMT is capable of ameliorating diarrhea in pre- weaning calves with alterations in their gut microbiota, and that FMT may have a potential role in the improvement of growth performance. 1 Department of Life and Nanopharmaceutical Sciences and Department of Biology, Kyung Hee University, Seoul 02447, Republic of Korea. 2 Department of Bioscience and Biotechnology, Konkuk University, Seoul 05029, Republic of Korea. 3Present address: Microbiology and Functionality Research Group, World Institute of Kimchi, Gwangju 61755, Republic of Korea.
    [Show full text]
  • Ruminant Animal? Many Different Species of Ruminant Animals Are Found Around the World
    What is a Ruminant Animal? Many different species of ruminant animals are found around the world. Ruminants include cattle, sheep, goats, buffalo, deer, elk, giraffes and camels. These animals all have a digestive system that is uniquely different from our own. Instead of one compartment to the stomach they have four. Of the four compartments the rumen is the largest section and the main digestive centre. The rumen is filled with billions of tiny microorganisms that are able to break down grass and other coarse vegetation that animals with one stomach (including humans, chickens and pigs) cannot digest. Ruminant animals do not completely chew the grass or vegetation they eat. The partially chewed grass goes into the large rumen where it is stored and broken down into balls of “cud”. When the animal has eaten its fill it will rest and “chew its cud”. The cud is then swallowed once again where it will pass into the next three compartments—the reticulum, the omasum and the true stomach, the abomasum. Dairy calves have a four-part stomach when they are born. However, they function primarily as a monogastric (simple-stomached) animal during the first part of their lives. At birth the first three compartments of a calf’s stomach—rumen, reticulum, and omasum—are inactive and undeveloped. As the calf grows and begins to eat a variety of feeds, its stomach compartments also begin to grow and change. The abomasum constitutes nearly 60 percent of the young calf’s stomach, decreasing to about 8 percent in the mature cow. The rumen comprises about 25 percent of the young calf’s stomach, increasing to 80 percent in the mature cow.
    [Show full text]
  • Methane Production in Ruminant Animals: Implication for Their Impact on Climate Change
    Concepts of Dairy & Veterinary Sciences DOI: ISSN: 2637-4749 10.32474/CDVS.2019.02.000142Review Article Methane Production in Ruminant Animals: Implication for Their Impact on Climate Change Mebrate Getabalew1, Tewodros Alemneh2* and Dawit Akeberegn3 1College of Agricultural and Natural Resource Science, Department of Animal Science, Debre Berhan University, Ethiopia 2Woreta Town Office of Agriculture and Environmental Protection, South Gondar Zone, Amhara Regional State, Ethiopia 3Debre Berhan City Municipality Office, Meat Inspection and Hygiene, Amhara Regional State, Ethiopia *Corresponding author: Tewodros Alemneh, Woreta Town Office of Agriculture and Environmental Protection, South Gondar Zone, Amhara Regional State, Ethiopia Received: Published: January 03, 2019 April 04, 2019 Abstract Agriculture accounts for about 47%-56% of the total anthropogenic methane (CH4) emission. It is known that from the agricultural sector, ruminant livestock (dairy, beef, goats, and sheep) substantially contributes to the increase in CH4 production through continuous natural rumen fermentation process. Methane emission is now the second contributor to global warming, which it has 23 times more influence than that of carbon dioxide (CO2). Many factors affect the amount of ruminant CH4 production, including level of feed intake, type and quality of feeds, energy consumption, animal size, growth rate, level of production, and environmental temperature. Methane also produced from manure of animals depending on the physical form of the faeces, the amount of digestible material, the climate, and the time they remained intact. The major part of methanogenesis in ruminants occurs in the large fermentative chamber, which is rumen. Ruminal digestion of feed by microorganisms, under anaerobic conditions, results in the production of acetate, propionate and butyrate (volatile fatty acids) which are used by the animal as energy source, and production of ruminal gases such as carbon dioxide (CO2) and CH4, which eliminated through eructation.
    [Show full text]
  • The Present Role and New Potentials of Anaerobic Fungi in Ruminant Nutrition
    Journal of Fungi Review The Present Role and New Potentials of Anaerobic Fungi in Ruminant Nutrition Thomas Hartinger * and Qendrim Zebeli Institute of Animal Nutrition and Functional Plant Compounds, University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, 1210 Vienna, Austria; [email protected] * Correspondence: [email protected] Abstract: The ruminal microbiota allows ruminants to utilize fibrous feeds and is in the limelight of ruminant nutrition research for many years. However, the overwhelming majority of investigations have focused on bacteria, whereas anaerobic fungi (AF) have been widely neglected by ruminant nutritionists. Anaerobic fungi are not only crucial fiber degraders but also important nutrient sources for the host. This review summarizes the current findings on AF and, most importantly, discusses their new application potentials in modern ruminant nutrition. Available data suggest AF can be applied as direct-fed microbials to enhance ruminal fiber degradation, which is indeed of interest for high-yielding dairy cows that often show depressed ruminal fibrolysis in response to high-grain feeding. Moreover, these microorganisms have relevance for the nutrient supply and reduction of methane emissions. However, to reach AF-related improvements in ruminal fiber breakdown and animal performance, obstacles in large-scale AF cultivation and applicable administration options need to be overcome. At feedstuff level, silage production may benefit from the application of fungal enzymes that cleave lignocellulosic structures and consequently enable higher energy exploitation from forages in the rumen. Concluding, AF hold several potentials in improving ruminant feeding and future research efforts are called for to harness these potentials. Citation: Hartinger, T.; Zebeli, Q. Keywords: additive; anaerobic digestion; cattle; enzyme; anaerobic fungi; herbivore; Neocalli- The Present Role and New Potentials mastigomycota; rumen; silage of Anaerobic Fungi in Ruminant Nutrition.
    [Show full text]
  • Characterization of Anaerobic Rumen Fungal Community Composition in Yak, Tibetan Sheep and Small Tail Han Sheep Grazing on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau
    animals Article Characterization of Anaerobic Rumen Fungal Community Composition in Yak, Tibetan Sheep and Small Tail Han Sheep Grazing on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau Wei Guo 1, Weiwei Wang 1, Sisi Bi 2, Ruijun Long 2, Farman Ullah 3, Muhammad Shafiq 4 , Mi Zhou 5,* and Ying Zhang 6,* 1 State Key Laboratory of Grassland Agro-ecosystems, College of Pastoral Agriculture Science and Technology, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730020, China; [email protected] (W.G.); [email protected] (W.W.) 2 School of Life Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730020, China; [email protected] (S.B.); [email protected] (R.L.) 3 Department of Animal Breeding and Genetics, Lasbela University of Agriculture Water and Marine Sciences, Uthal 90150, Pakistan; [email protected] 4 College of Veterinary Medicine, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, China; drshafi[email protected] 5 Department of Agricultural, Food and Nutritional Science, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB T6G 2P5, Canada 6 School of Public Health, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730020, China * Correspondence: [email protected] (M.Z.); [email protected] (Y.Z.) Received: 30 November 2019; Accepted: 14 January 2020; Published: 16 January 2020 Simple Summary: Anaerobic rumen fungi play a vital role in fiber degradation. The objective of this study was to compare the anaerobic rumen fungal communities of full grazing ruminants in the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau. Our results showed that the anaerobic rumen fungal community was affected by host species and the dynamic associations of them were host specific. This is the first study exploring the anaerobic rumen fungi in the full-grazing ruminants, which could lay a solid foundation to really identify fiber degradation fungal taxa using culture-dependent techniques in the future.
    [Show full text]
  • Optimizing Ruminal Fermentation with Organic Acids
    Optimizing Ruminal Fermentation with Organic Acids Scott A. Martin Department of Animal and Dairy Science The University of Georgia, Athens 30602-2771 Introduction Only some strains of S. ruminantium (subspecies lactilytica) are able to ferment lactate (Stewart and Much interest has been generated over the Bryant, 1988). past few years aimed at evaluating alternative means to manipulate the gastrointestinal microflora in production Early research showed that S. ruminantium livestock. Motivation for examining these alternatives HD4 requires L-aspartate, CO2, p-aminobenzoic acid, comes from increasing public scrutiny about the use of and biotin for growth in a lactate-salts medium antibiotics in the animal feed industry. However, (Linehan et al., 1978). In addition, the requirement for compared to the amount of information available L-aspartate can be replaced by L-malate or fumarate. detailing the effects of antimicrobial compounds on Because little work had been done in this area since the ruminal fermentation, little research has been conducted report by Linehan et al. (1978), my laboratory initiated to evaluate alternatives to antimicrobial compounds. In studies to evaluate the effects of aspartate, fumarate, the past 10 yr, interest has increased in direct-fed and malate on growth and lactate uptake by S. microbial (DFM) products and research has been ruminantium HD4 (Nisbet and Martin, 1990). Growth conducted to examine the effects of DFM on ruminant of S. ruminantium HD4 in medium that contained DL- performance. While some of these products have lactate was stimulated approximately two-fold by 10 shown promise in favorably altering the ruminal mM L-aspartate, fumarate, or L-malate after 24 h of fermentation and improving animal performance, the incubation (Nisbet and Martin, 1990).
    [Show full text]
  • The Reticulo-Rumen
    The Reticulo-Rumen CATTLE, sheep, goats, camels, reindeer, and buffalo are ruminants. Their digestive systems include four-compartment stomachs. The largest is the rumen, from which the term "ruminant" is derived. The other compartments are the reticulum, omasum, and aboma- sum. The reticulum and rumen are referred to as the reticulo- rumen. Ruminants can convert coarse, fibrous feedstuffs, unsuitcd for simple-stomach animals, into meat, milk, fiber, and energy. Ru- minants can thrive on feeds that are high in fiber and deficient in essential amino acids and B vitamins because of their unique diges- tive system. The reticulo-rumen provides a suitable environment for the growth and development of bacteria that break down complex carbohydrates, change and synthesize proteins, synthesize vitamins of the B complex, and alter fats. The bacterial fermentation is carried out anterior to the true stomach (abomasum) and small intestine. This seems to be an efficient arrangement for the digestion and uti- lization of cellulose and provides for digestion of microbial products in the true stomach. Most forage-consuming animals, such as horses and rabbits, have a reverse arrangement. The number of ruminai bacteria per milliliter (one-thousandth liter) of rumen contents seems to be about lo billion to lOO billion. There may be approximately i million protozoa per milliliter. The capacity of the rumen is in the range of 4 to 10 liters in adult sheep and 100 to 300 liters in adult cattle; the total number of ruminai micro-organisms in an animal therefore is phenomenal. A number of types of ruminai bacteria have been isolated and classified; among them are streptococci, lactobacilli, and selenomonads.
    [Show full text]
  • Rumen Fermentation and Fatty Acid Composition of Milk of Mid Lactating Dairy Cows Grazing Chicory and Ryegrass
    animals Article Rumen Fermentation and Fatty Acid Composition of Milk of Mid Lactating Dairy Cows Grazing Chicory and Ryegrass Mancoba Mangwe * , Racheal Bryant and Pablo Gregorini Faculty of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Lincoln University, P.O. Box 7647 Canterbury, New Zealand; [email protected] (R.B.); [email protected] (P.G.) * Correspondence: [email protected]; Tel.: +6-422-492-3443 Received: 8 December 2019; Accepted: 14 January 2020; Published: 19 January 2020 Simple Summary: Enhancing the concentration of individual fatty acids (FA) in milk has been, for a long time, a major aim for researchers because certain FAs are linked with several health benefits in humans as well as improving the processing quality of milk products. It is well documented that diet, management regime, and extent of biohydrogenation in the rumen are critical in determining the composition of FA in the milk of dairy cows. This study investigated the effects of including chicory into the traditional feeding regime of ryegrass/white clover, and time of its allocation on milk production, rumen fermentation, and FA composition of milk and rumen digesta of dairy cows. Our findings show that allocation of mature chicory herbage to dairy cows at 50% of their ration modified rumen fermentation and improved both milk yield and the FA profile of the milk. Allocating chicory herbage during the afternoon is a useful strategy that can translate to improved milk production and quality. These findings reflect not just the feasibility of including chicory as part of a feeding regime, but also the role of chicory in rumen fermentation and biohydrogenation.
    [Show full text]