Dataset Information

Could the breed composition improve performance and change the enteric methane emissions from beef cattle in a tropical intensive production system?

ABSTRACT: Crossbreeding has been used to improve performance in beef cattle, however the effects of breed composition on methane (CH4) production, yield and intensity from cattle raised in tropical intensive and integrated systems remain unknown. To assess the impact of breed composition on performance and methane emissions, Nellore (NEL; yr 1: BW = 171.5 ± 19.4 kg; n = 10; yr 2: BW = 215.8 ± 32.3 kg, n = 25) and Angus x Nellore crossbred (AN; yr 1: BW = 214.2 ± 26.4 kg, n = 10; yr 2: BW = 242.5 ± 32.2 kg, n = 25) were compared. The animals grazed on integrated crop-livestock system in the growing phase (stocking rate 2452 kg BW/ha, herbage mass 4,884 kg dry matter (DM)/ha, forage allowance 5.9 kg DM/100kg BW) and then were finished in a feedlot. Steers (n = 8) from each breed composition were randomly selected in each phase to measure CH4 production using a sulfur hexafluoride (SF6) tracer technique and DM intake (DMI) using titanium dioxide. Compared with NEL, AN had both superior total gain and average daily gain (ADG) in the grazing period. The AN presented greater ADG in the feedlot with a shorter finishing period and resulted in greater carcass yield and carcass ADG. Methane production (kg/period) was lower in NEL (19% less) than AN in grazing (P<0.01), and no difference was observed in feedlot. The NEL had less CH4 intensity (CH4/BW) in grazing but greater CH4 per unit of ADG in the feedlot compared to AN. Breed composition did not influence the CH4 yield (CH4/DMI) in either phase, despite the difference in feedlot DMI (kg/day). In conclusion, crossbreeding may be an option to improve performance and reduce the CH4 per ADG in tropical climate conditions, resulting in lower methane emission per kg of meat produced.

SUBMITTER: Maciel ICF

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6660127 | biostudies-literature | 2019

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

Could the breed composition improve performance and change the enteric methane emissions from beef cattle in a tropical intensive production system?

Maciel Isabella Cristina de Faria ICF Barbosa Fabiano Alvim FA Tomich Thierry Ribeiro TR Ribeiro Luiz Gustavo Pereira LGP Alvarenga Ramon Costa RC Lopes Leandro Sâmia LS Malacco Victor Marco Rocha VMR Rowntree Jason E JE Thompson Logan R LR Lana Ângela Maria Quintão ÂMQ

PloS one 20190726 7

Crossbreeding has been used to improve performance in beef cattle, however the effects of breed composition on methane (CH4) production, yield and intensity from cattle raised in tropical intensive and integrated systems remain unknown. To assess the impact of breed composition on performance and methane emissions, Nellore (NEL; yr 1: BW = 171.5 ± 19.4 kg; n = 10; yr 2: BW = 215.8 ± 32.3 kg, n = 25) and Angus x Nellore crossbred (AN; yr 1: BW = 214.2 ± 26.4 kg, n = 10; yr 2: BW = 242.5 ± 32.2 kg ...[more]

PMID: 31348816

Similar Datasets

Project description:Exploring the compositional characteristics of rumen eukaryotic community can expand our understanding of their role in rumen function and feed efficiency. In this study, we applied metatranscriptomics to characterize the active rumen eukaryotic community (protozoa and fungi) in beef cattle (n = 48) of three breeds [Angus (AN), Charolais (CH), and Kinsella Composite (KC)] and with divergent residual feed intake (RFI). The composition of active rumen eukaryotic microbiota was evaluated based on enriched 18S rRNAs from the metatranscriptomic datasets. At the phylum level, a total of four protozoal taxa (Ciliophora, Parabasalia, unclassified SAR, and unclassified Alveolata), six fungal taxa (Neocallimastigomycota, Basidiomycota, unclassified Fungi, Mucoromycota, Ascomycota, and Chytridiomycota), and one sister group of kingdom Fungi (unclassified Opisthokonta) were detected with relative abundances higher than 0.01% and in at least 50% of animals within each breed. Among these, Ciliophora, Parabasalia, unclassified Opisthokonta, and Neocallimastigomycota were the top four active eukaryotic phyla. At the genus level, a total of 8 ciliated protozoa, 5 flagellated protozoa, 5 anaerobic fungi, and 10 aerobic fungi taxa were detected, with unclassified Trichostomatia, Tetratrichomonas, unclassified Neocallimastigaceae, and Pleurotus being the most predominant taxa of ciliated protozoa, flagellated protozoa, anaerobic fungi, and aerobic fungi, respectively. Differential abundance analysis revealed that breed had a significant effect on the phylogenetic lineages of rumen eukaryotes, and seven fungal taxa were more abundant (linear discriminant analysis score > 2 with P < 0.05) in the rumen of KC steers than in the rumen of AN and CH steers. Although principal coordinate analysis (PCoA) revealed that the ruminal active eukaryotic profiles were not distinguishable between high- and low-RFI groups, the diversity indices, including Faith's phylogenetic diversity (PD), observed operational taxonomic units (OTUs), and Shannon index of rumen eukaryotes were higher in low-RFI steers than those in high-RFI steers. Meanwhile, the abundance of genus Entodinium and the kingdom Fungi was higher in low-RFI steers than that in high-RFI steers. This information on active rumen eukaryotic microbiota and identified differential abundance of taxa between high- and low-RFI animals suggests the possibility of improving feed efficiency through altering rumen eukaryotic microbiota.

Project description:Non-microbial methane (NM-CH4), emissions from soil might play a significant role in carbon cycling and global climate change. However, the production mechanisms and emission potential of soil NM-CH4 from tropical rainforest remain highly uncertain. In order to explore the laws and characteristics of NM-CH4 emission from tropical rainforest soils. Incubation experiments at different environmental conditions (temperatures, soil water contents, hydrogen peroxide) and for soils with different soil organic carbon (SOC) contents were conducted to investigate the NM-CH4 emission characteristics and its influence factors of soils (0-10cm) that collected from a tropical rainforest in Hainan, China. Incubation results illustrated that soil NM-CH4 release showed a linear increase with the incubation time in the first 24 hours at 70 °C, whereas the logarithmic curve increase was found in 192 h incubation. Soil NM-CH4 emission rates under aerobic condition were significantly higher than that of under anaerobic condition at first 24 h incubation. The increasing of temperature, suitable soil water contents (0-100%), and hydrogen peroxide significantly promoted soil NM-CH4 emission rates at the first 24 h incubation. However, excessive soil water contents (200%) inhibited soil NM-CH4 emissions. According to the curve simulated from the NM-CH4 emission rates and incubation time at 70 °C of aerobic condition, soil would no longer release NM-CH4 after 229 h incubation. The NM-CH4 emissions were positively corelated with SOC contents, and the average soil NM-CH4 emission potential was about 6.91 ug per gram organic carbon in the tropical mountain rainforest. This study revealed that soils in the tropical rainforest could produce NM-CH4 under certain environment conditions and it supported production mechanisms of thermal degradation and reactive oxygen species oxidation. Those results could provide a basic data for understanding the soil NM-CH4 production mechanisms and its potential in the tropical rainforest.

Project description:Background:Wild birds using livestock facilities for food and shelter may contribute to dissemination of enteric pathogens or antimicrobial resistant bacteria. However, drivers of microbial exchange among wildlife and livestock are not well characterized. Predisposition for acquiring and retaining environmental bacteria may vary among species because of physiologic or behavioral differences, complicating selection of a bacterial model that can accurately characterize microbial connections among hosts of interest. This study compares the prevalence and antibiotic resistance phenotypes of two potential model bacterial organisms isolated from wild birds and their environments. Methods:We compared prevalence and resistance profiles of Escherichia coli and Enterococcus species isolated from environmental swabs and bird feces on a residential control site, a confinement dairy, a pasture-based beef farm, and a confinement beef farm. Results:Bird feces at all sites had low-to-moderate prevalence of Escherichia coli (range: 17-47%), despite potential for exposure on farms (range: 63-97%). Few Escherichia coli were isolated from the control environment. Enterococcus faecalis was dominant in birds at both beef farms (62% and 81% of Enterococcus isolates) and low-to-moderately prevalent at the dairy and control sites (29% and 23% of isolates, respectively). Antimicrobial resistance prevalence was higher in farm samples compared to those from the residential control, but distribution of resistant isolates varied between the bacterial genera. Birds on all farms carried resistant Enterococcus at similar rates to that of the environment, but resistance was less common in bird-associated Escherichia coli despite presence of resistant isolates in the farm environment. Discussion:Bacterial species studied may affect how readily bacterial exchange among populations is detected. Selection of microbial models must carefully consider both the questions being posed and how findings might influence resulting management decisions.

Project description:Five in vitro experiments were conducted with the following objectives: 1) To evaluate the ruminal fermentation of three different single ingredients: corn, glycerin, and starch (Exp. 1 and 2); 2) To assess effects of partially replacing corn with glycerin in beef cattle diets on ruminal fermentation pattern (Exp. 3 and 4); and 3) To evaluate the effects of glycerin inclusion on the extension of ruminal DM digestibility of feeds with high (orchard hay) and low (corn) fiber content (Exp. 5). For Exp. 1 and 2, two in vitro systems (24-bottle AnkomRF and 20-serum bottles) were used in four consecutive fermentation batches to evaluate gas production (GP), fermentation profiles, enteric methane (CH4), and carbon dioxide (CO2) of corn, glycerin, and starch. The 24 h total GP, acetate concentration, and acetate: propionate ratio decreased only when glycerin was added to the diet (P < 0.01). The 48-h total GP and metabolizable energy were greatest for corn (P < 0.01), and similar between glycerin and starch. The starch treatment had the lowest total volatile fatty acids concentration (P = 0.01). Glycerin had greatest CH4 production, lag time, and maximum gas volume of the first pool (P < 0.05). However, the maximum gas volume of the second pool was greatest for corn (P < 0.05), and similar between glycerin and starch. The starch treatment had the greatest specific rates of digestion for first and second pools (P < 0.05). Production of CO2 (mL/g) was greater for corn (P < 0.01), but similar for glycerin and starch. For Exp. 3 and 4, the same systems were used to evaluate four different levels of glycerin [0, 100, 200, and 300 g/kg of dry matter (DM)] replacing corn in beef cattle finishing diets. Glycerin levels did not affect 24 and 48 h total GP, CH4, and CO2 (P > 0.05). The inclusion of glycerin linearly decreased acetate concentration (P = 0.03) and acetate: propionate ratio (P = 0.04). For Exp. 5, two DaisyII incubators were used to evaluate the in vitro dry matter digestibility (IVDMD) of the following treatments: orchard hay; corn; orchard hay + glycerin; and corn + glycerin. Glycerin inclusion decreased orchard hay IVDMD (P < 0.01) but did not affect corn IVDMD (P > 0.05). We concluded that, under these experimental conditions, glycerin has similar energy efficiency when used in replacement of corn and included at up to 300 g/kg in beef cattle diets.

Dataset Information

Could the breed composition improve performance and change the enteric methane emissions from beef cattle in a tropical intensive production system?

Publications

Could the breed composition improve performance and change the enteric methane emissions from beef cattle in a tropical intensive production system?

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets