Dataset Information

Rumen Microbiome and Metabolome of Tibetan Sheep (Ovis aries) Reflect Animal Age and Nutritional Requirement.

ABSTRACT: The rumen microbiota plays an important role in animal functional attributes. These microbes are indispensable for the normal physiological development of the rumen, and may also convert the plant polysaccharides from grass into available milk and meat, making it highly valuable to humans. Exploring the microbial composition and metabolites of rumen across developmental stages is important for understanding ruminant nutrition and metabolism. However, relatively few reports have investigated the microbiome and metabolites across developmental stages in ruminants. Using 16S rRNA gene sequnecing, metabolomics and high-performance liquid chromatography techniques, we compared the rumen microbiota, metabolites and short chain fatty acids (SCFAs) between lambs and sub-adult Tibetan sheep (Ovis aries) from Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau. Bacteroidetes and Spirochaetae were enriched in sub-adult sheep, while Firmicutes and Tenericutes were more abundant in young individuals. The sub-adult individuals had higher alpha diversity values than those in young sheep. Metabolomics analysis showed that the content of essential amino acids and related gene functional pathways in rumen were different between the lambs and sub-adult population. L-Leucine that participates in valine, leucine and isoleucine biosynthesis was more abundant in the lambs, while phenylethylamine that takes part in phenylalanine metabolism was more enriched in the sub-adults. Both rumen microbial community structures and metabolite profiles were impacted by age, but rumen SCFA concentration was relatively stable between different age stages. Some specific microbes (e.g., Clostridium and Ruminococcaceae) were positively associated with L-Leucine but negatively correlated with phenylethylamine, implying that rumen microbes may play different roles for metabolite production at different ages. Mantel test analysis showed that rumen microbiota was significantly correlated with metabolomics and SCFA profiles. Our results indicates the close relationship between microbial composition and metabolites, and also reveal different nutritional requirement for different ages in ruminants, thus having important significance for regulating animal nutrition and metabolism by microbiome intervention.

SUBMITTER: Li H

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7492597 | biostudies-literature | 2020

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Rumen Microbiome and Metabolome of Tibetan Sheep (<i>Ovis aries</i>) Reflect Animal Age and Nutritional Requirement.

Li Huan H Yu Qiaoling Q Li Tongtong T Shao Liye L Su Ming M Zhou Huakun H Qu Jiapeng J

Frontiers in veterinary science 20200902

The rumen microbiota plays an important role in animal functional attributes. These microbes are indispensable for the normal physiological development of the rumen, and may also convert the plant polysaccharides from grass into available milk and meat, making it highly valuable to humans. Exploring the microbial composition and metabolites of rumen across developmental stages is important for understanding ruminant nutrition and metabolism. However, relatively few reports have investigated the ...[more]

PMID: 32984417

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Project description:Selenium (Se) deficiency is a widespread and seasonally chronic phenomenon observed in Tibetan sheep (Ovis aries) traditionally grazed on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau (QTP). Effects of the dietary addition of Se-enriched yeast (SeY) on the bacterial community in sheep rumen and rumen fermentation were evaluated with the aim of gaining a better understanding of the rumen prokaryotic community. Twenty-four yearling Tibetan rams [initial average body weight (BW) of 31.0 ± 0.64 kg] were randomly divided into four treatment groups, namely, control (CK), low Se (L), medium Se (M), and high Se (H). Each group comprised six rams and was fed a basic diet of fresh forage cut from the alpine meadow, to which SeY was added at prescribed dose rates. This feed trial was conducted for over 35 days. On the final day, rumen fluid was collected using a transesophageal sampler for analyzing rumen pH, NH3-N content, volatile fatty acid (VFA) level, and the rumen microbial community. Our analyses showed that NH3-N, total VFA, and propionate concentrations in the M group were significantly higher than in the other groups (P < 0.05). Both the principal coordinates analysis (PCoA) and the analysis of similarities revealed that the bacterial population structure of rumen differed among the four groups. The predominant rumen bacterial phyla were found to be Bacteroidetes and Firmicutes, and the three dominant genera in all the samples across all treatments were Christensenellaceae R7 group, Rikenellaceae RC9 gut group, and Prevotella 1. The relative abundances of Prevotella 1, Rikenellaceae RC9 gut group, Ruminococcus 2, Lachnospiraceae XPB1014 group, Carnobacterium, and Hafnia-Obesumbacterium were found to differ significantly among the four treatment groups (P < 0.05). Moreover, Tax4fun metagenome estimation revealed that gene functions and metabolic pathways associated with carbohydrate and other amino acids were overexpressed in the rumen microbiota of SeY-supplemented sheep. To conclude, SeY significantly affects the abundance of rumen bacteria and ultimately affects the rumen microbial fermentation.

Project description:Testis has an indispensable function in male reproduction of domestic animals. Tibetan sheep (Ovis aries) is a locally adapted breed of sheep raised in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, with outsized roles in providing the livelihood for millions of residents. Nevertheless, less is known on how protein expression and their functional roles in developmental testes of such breed limit their use in breeding efforts. In this study, we obtained comprehensive protein profiles from testes of Tibetan sheep at three developmental stages (including pre-puberty, post-puberty, and adulthood) using data-independent acquisition-based proteomic strategy to quantitatively identify the differentially abundant proteins (DAPs) associated with testicular development and function and to unravel the molecular basis of spermatogenesis. A total of 6,221 proteins were differentially expressed in an age-dependent manner. The reliability of the gene expression abundance was corroborated by quantitative PCR and targeted parallel reaction monitoring. These DAPs were significantly enriched to biological processes concerning spermatid development and sperm deformation, mitosis, glycolytic process, cell-cell/extracellular matrix (ECM) junctions, cell proliferation, apoptosis, and migration and to the pathways including, developmental process and sexual reproduction-related (such as VEGF, estrogen, insulin, GnRH, Hippo, PI3K-Akt, mTOR, MAPK, and AMPK), and testicular cell events-related pathways (such as tight/gap/adherens junctions, ECM-receptor interaction, regulation of actin cytoskeleton, glycolysis, cell cycle, and meiosis). Based on these bioinformatics analysis, we constructed four protein-protein interaction network, among which the proteins are involved in mitosis, meiosis, spermiogenesis, and testicular microenvironment, respectively. Altogether, these bioinformatics-based sequencing results suggest that many protein-coding genes were expressed in a development-dependent manner in Tibetan sheep testes to contribute to the testicular cell development and their surrounding microenvironment remodeling at various stages of spermatogenesis. These findings have important implications for further understanding of the mechanisms underlying spermatogenesis in sheep and even other plateau-adapted animals.

Project description:The dynamics of ruminant-rumen microbiome symbiosis associated with feeding strategies in the cold season were examined. Twelve pure-grazing adult Tibetan sheep (Ovis aries) (18 months old; body weight, 40 ± 0.23 kg) were transferred from natural pasture to two indoor feedlots and fed either a native-pasture diet (NPF group) or an oat hay diet (OHF group) (n = 6 per treatment), and then the flexibility of rumen microbiomes to adapt to these compositionally different feeding strategies was examined. Principal-coordinate analysis and similarity analysis indicated that the rumen bacterial composition correlated with altered feeding strategies. Microbial diversity was higher in the grazing group than in those fed with native pasture and an oat hay diet (P < 0.05). The dominant microbial phyla were Bacteroidetes and Firmicutes, and the core bacterial taxa comprised mostly (42.49% of shared operational taxonomic units [OTUs]) Ruminococcaceae (408 taxa), Lachnospiraceae (333 taxa), and Prevotellaceae (195 taxa), which were relatively stable across different treatments. Greater relative abundances of Tenericutes at the phylum level, Pseudomonadales at the order level, Mollicutes at the class level, and Pseudomonas at the genus level were observed in a grazing period than in the other two treatments (NPF and OHF) (P < 0.05). In the OHF group, due to the high nutritional quality of the forage, Tibetan sheep can produce high concentrations of short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) and NH3-N by increasing the relative abundances of key bacteria in the rumen, such as Lentisphaerae, Negativicutes, Selenomonadales, Veillonellaceae, Ruminococcus 2, Quinella, Bacteroidales RF16 group, and Prevotella 1, to aid in nutrients degradation and energy utilization. The levels of beneficial bacteria were increased by the oat hay diet; these microbiotas are likely to help improve and maintain host health and metabolic ability in Tibetan sheep to adapt to cold environments. The rumen fermentation parameters were significantly influenced by feeding strategy in the cold season (P < 0.05). Overall, the results of this study demonstrate the strong effect of feeding strategies on the rumen microbiota of Tibetan sheep, which provided a new idea for the nutrition regulation of Tibetan sheep grazing in the cold season on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau. IMPORTANCE During the cold season, like other high-altitude mammals, Tibetan sheep have to adapt their physiological and nutritional strategies, as well as the structure and function of their rumen microbial community, to the seasonal variation of lower food availability and quality. This study focused on the changes and adaptability in the rumen microbiota of Tibetan sheep when they adapted from grazing to a high-efficiency feeding strategy during the cold season by analyzing the rumen microbiota of Tibetan sheep raised under the different management systems, and it shows the linkages among the rumen core and pan-bacteriomes, nutrient utilization, and rumen short-chain fatty acids. The findings from this study suggest that the feeding strategies potentially contribute to variations in the pan-rumen bacteriome, together with the core bacteriome. Fundamental knowledge on the rumen microbiomes and their roles in nutrient utilization furthers our understanding of how rumen microbial adaptation to harsh environments may function in hosts. The facts obtained from the present trial clarified the possible mechanisms of the positive effects of feeding strategy on nutrient utilization and rumen fermentation in harsh environments.

Dataset Information

Rumen Microbiome and Metabolome of Tibetan Sheep (Ovis aries) Reflect Animal Age and Nutritional Requirement.

Publications

Rumen Microbiome and Metabolome of Tibetan Sheep (<i>Ovis aries</i>) Reflect Animal Age and Nutritional Requirement.

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