Dataset Information

Transcriptome Analysis Reveals That Alfalfa Promotes Rumen Development Through Enhanced Metabolic Processes and Calcium Transduction in Hu Lambs.

ABSTRACT: A healthy gut is very important for young animal development. The rumen of ruminants expands in size with the colonization of microbiota by 2 months of age. This process is promoted by alfalfa intervention. To elucidate the mechanism of this promotion, we performed transcriptomic analyses using a cohort of 23 lambs to evaluate the effects of starter diets plus alfalfa on the development of the rumen wall from the pre- to the postweaning period. The quantitative PCR analyses were used to validate selected genes that were differentially expressed in the transcriptome mapping. We found that several metabolic processes associated with rumen tissue development were affected by solid feed intake, with genes linked to the calcium signaling transduction pathway and the metabolism of pteridine-containing compounds and homocysteine metabolic process being upregulated in the group with alfalfa intervention. The results suggest that the pteridine-containing compounds and calcium signaling are targets for precise regulation of rumen development.

SUBMITTER: Yang B

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6785638 | biostudies-literature | 2019

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Transcriptome Analysis Reveals That Alfalfa Promotes Rumen Development Through Enhanced Metabolic Processes and Calcium Transduction in Hu Lambs.

Yang Bin B Chen Hongwei H Cao Jiawen J He Bo B Wang Shanshan S Luo Yang Y Wang Jiakun J

Frontiers in genetics 20191003

A healthy gut is very important for young animal development. The rumen of ruminants expands in size with the colonization of microbiota by 2 months of age. This process is promoted by alfalfa intervention. To elucidate the mechanism of this promotion, we performed transcriptomic analyses using a cohort of 23 lambs to evaluate the effects of starter diets plus alfalfa on the development of the rumen wall from the pre- to the postweaning period. The quantitative PCR analyses were used to validate ...[more]

PMID: 31632445

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Project description:The pre-weaning period is crucial for rumen developmental plasticity, which can have a long-term impact on animal performance. Understanding the rumen microbiota during early life is important to elucidate its potential role in rumen development. In this study, the rumen microbiota of 10-day-old Hu lambs fed either milk replacer (B-10), milk replacer and starter (STA) or milk replacer and starter supplemented with alfalfa (S-ALF) in the pre- (d17, 24, and 38) and post-weaning periods (d45 and 66) were assessed to characterize rumen microbial colonization during early life and its response to fiber intervention. In the rumens of B-10 lambs, 498 operational taxonomic units belonging to 33 predominant genera were observed, and the top six predicted functions included "Membrane transport," "carbohydrate metabolism," "amino acid metabolism," "replication and repair," "translation," and "energy metabolism." Prevotella, Succinivibrio, Bifidobacterium, and Butyrivibrio abundances were increased at d38 for both STA and S-ALF groups compared to the B-10 group, whereas fibrolytic bacteria of the taxa Lachnospiraceae and Treponema were only increased in the S-ALF group at d38. A number of saccharolytic bacteria (Bacteroidaceae), organic acid-producing bacteria (Coprococcus and Actinomyces), proteolytic and amino acid fermenters (Fusobacterium) and fibrolytic bacteria (unclassified Ruminococcaceae) were significantly decreased in the STA lambs but not in the S-ALF lambs at d38. After weaning and exposed to alfalfa, the rumen microbial composition in the STA group started to appear similar to that of the S-ALF lambs. The relative abundance of unclassified Clostridiales was higher in S-ALF lambs than STA lambs after weaning. Spearman's correlation analysis showed positive relationships between unclassified Lachnospiraceae, unclassified Clostridiales, Treponema, unclassified Bacteroidales, Coprococcus and crude protein intake, neutral detergent fiber intake, and plasma β-hydroxybutyrate. The unclassified Lachnospiraceae and Treponema were also positively correlated with average daily gain. Our results revealed that alfalfa stimulated changes in rumen microbiota during the pre- and post-weaning periods and was consistent with rumen development for better feed intake and animal performance before and after weaning. The findings of this study provide clues for strategies to improve rumen function through manipulation of the rumen microbiota during early life.

Project description:The rumen bacteria in the solid, liquid, and epithelial fractions are distinct and play important roles in the degradation of urea nitrogen. However, the effects of urea on rumen bacteria from the three fractions remain unclear. In this study, 42 Hu lambs were fed a total mixed ration based on concentrate and roughage (55:45, dry matter basis) and randomly assigned to one of three experimental diets: a basal diet with no urea (UC, 0 g/kg), a basal diet supplemented with low urea levels (LU, 10 g/kg DM), and a basal diet supplemented with high urea levels (HU, 30 g/kg DM). After an 11-week feeding trial, six animals from each treatment were harvested. Rumen metabolites levels were measured, and bacteria of the rumen solid, liquid, and epithelial fractions were examined based on 16S rRNA gene sequencing. Under urea supplementation, the concentrations of ammonia and butyrate in the rumen increased, whereas the concentration of propionate decreased. The population of total protozoa was the highest in the LU treatment. Prevotella 1 was the most abundant genus in all samples. The unclassified Muribaculaceae, bacteria within the families Lachnospiraceae and Ruminococcaceae, and Christensenellaceae R7 were abundant in the solid and liquid fractions. Butyrivibrio 2 and Treponema 2 were the abundant bacteria in the epithelial fraction. Principal coordinate analysis showed separation of the solid, liquid and epithelial bacteria regardless of diet, suggesting that rumen fraction had stronger influences on the bacterial community than did urea supplementation. However, the influences on the bacterial community differed among the three fractions. In the solid and liquid fractions, Succinivibrionaceae UCG 001 and Prevotella 1 showed decreased abundance with dietary urea supplementation, whereas the abundance of Oscillospira spp. was increased. Howardella spp. and Desulfobulbus spp. were higher in the epithelial fraction of the UC and LU treatments relative to HU treatment. Comparisons of predictive function in the rumen solid, liquid, and epithelial fractions among the three treatments also revealed differences. Collectively, these results reveal the change of the rumen bacterial community to dietary urea supplementation.

Project description:ObjectiveThe objective of this study was to compare the effects of Leymus chinensis hay and alfalfa hay as the roughage on the rumen bacterial and the meat metabolomics in lambs.MethodsFourteen male lambs were randomly assigned to two dietary treatments (one group was fed with concentrate and Leymus chinensis hay; another was fed with concentrate and alfalfa hay) with seven replicates per treatment. The feeding experiment lasted for 60 days. Lambs were slaughtered at the end of the feeding experiment. Growth performance, carcass performance, and weights of various viscera were determined. The longissimus dorsi and rumen contents were collected for untargeted metabolomics and 16S rDNA amplicon sequencing analysis, respectively.ResultsThe lambs fed with alfalfa hay showed a significantly increased in average daily gain, carcass weight, dressing percentage, loin-eye area, and kidney weight. Feeding Leymus chinensis hay and alfalfa hay diets resulted in different meat metabolite deposition and rumen bacterial communities in the lambs. The relative abundance of phyla Fibrobacteres, Bacteroidetes, and Spirochaetes were greater in the Leymus Chinensis hay group, while, the relative abundance of Firmicutes, Proteobacteria, Fusobacteria, and Verrucomicrobia were greater in the alfalfa hay group. Based on untargeted metabolomics, the main altered metabolic pathways included alanine, aspartate and glutamate metabolism, D-glutamine and D-glutamate metabolism, phenylalanine metabolism, nitrogen metabolism, and tyrosine metabolism. Several bacteria genera including BF31, Alistipes, Faecalibacterium, Eggerthella, and Anaeroplasma were significantly correlated with growth performance and meat metabolites.ConclusionAlfalfa hay improved growth performance and carcass characteristics in lambs. Leymus chinensis hay and alfalfa hay caused different meat metabolite deposition by modifying the rumen bacterial community. These findings will be beneficial to future forage utilization for sheep growth, carcass performance, and meat quality improvement.

Dataset Information

Transcriptome Analysis Reveals That Alfalfa Promotes Rumen Development Through Enhanced Metabolic Processes and Calcium Transduction in Hu Lambs.

Publications

Transcriptome Analysis Reveals That Alfalfa Promotes Rumen Development Through Enhanced Metabolic Processes and Calcium Transduction in Hu Lambs.

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