Project description:In this study, we studied the fibrolytic potential of the rumen microbiota in the rumen of 6 lambs separated from their dams from 12h of age and artificially fed with milk replacer (MR) and starter feed from d8, in absence (3 lambs) or presence (3 lambs) of a combination of the live yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae CNCM I-1077 and selected yeast metabolites. The fibrolytic potential of the rumen microbiota of the lambs at 56 days of age was analyzed with a DNA microarray (FibroChip) targeting genes coding for 8 glycoside hydrolase (GH) families.
Project description:<p>Antibiotics were once used in animal production to improve productivity and resistance to pathogenic microbiota. However, due to its negative effects, the search for a new class of substances that can replace its efficacy has become one of the urgent problems to be solved. Plant essential oils (EOs) as a natural feed additive can maintain microbiota homeostasis and improve animal performance. However, its specific mechanism of action needs to be further investigated. Therefore, we added different doses of essential oil of Zanthoxylum bungeanum (EOZB) to the diets of Small Tail Han Sheep hybrid male lambs (STH lambs) to evaluate the effect of EOZB on rumen enzyme activity, rumen microbiology and its metabolites in STH lambs. Twenty STH lambs were randomly divided into four groups (n = 5/group) and provided with the same diet. The dietary treatments were as follows: basal diet (BD) group; BD+EOZB 5 mL/kg group; BD+EOZB 10 mL/kg group; BD+EOZB 15 mL/kg group. We found that EOZB 10 ml/kg helped to increase rumen pectinase (P<0.05) and lipase (P<0.05) activities. Microbial 16S rRNA gene analysis showed that EOZB significantly altered the abundance of rumen microbiota (P<0.05). LC/GC-MS metabolomic analysis showed that the addition of EOZB produced a total of 1073 differential metabolites, with 58 differential metabolites remaining after raising the screening criteria. These differential metabolites were mainly enriched in glycerophospholipid metabolism, choline metabolism in cancer, retrograde endocannabinoid signaling, benzoxazinoid biosynthesis, and protein digestion and absorption. Correlation analysis showed that some rumen microbiota were significantly correlated with differential metabolite and enzyme activities.</p>
Project description:A healthy rumen is crucial for normal growth and improved production performance of ruminant animals. Rumen microbes participate in and regulate rumen epithelial function, and the diverse metabolites produced by rumen microbes are important participants in rumen microbe-host interactions. SCFAs, as metabolites of rumen microbes, have been widely studied, and propionate and butyrate have been proven to promote rumen epithelial cell proliferation. Succinate, as an intermediate metabolite in the citric acid cycle, is a final product in the metabolism of certain rumen microbes, and is also an intermediate product in the microbial synthesis pathway of propionate. However, its effect on rumen microbes and rumen epithelial function has not been studied. It is unclear whether succinate can stimulate rumen epithelial development. Therefore, in this experiment, Chinese Tan sheep were used as experimental animals to conduct a comprehensive analysis of the rumen microbiota community structure and rumen epithelial transcriptome, to explore the role of adding succinate to the diet in the interaction between the rumen microbiota and host.
Project description:Rumen epithelial parakeratosis, a common disease in ruminants caused by abnormalities in the ruminal stratified squamous epithelial keratinization process, negatively impacts ruminant health and performance. While we still lack a comprehensive perception of the underlying mechanisms and the predisposing factors for this disorder.Here, we investigated rumen epithelial cell heterogeneity, differentiation trajectories, and cornification to clarify the rumen epithelial keratinization process
Project description:The rumen is a major the site of digestion and absorption of energy predominantly in the form of short chain fatty acids as well as amino acids and simple carbohydrates. The value of crops such as perennial wheat (PW) for grain and grazing compared to conventional wheat (W), or the addition of lucerne to PW (PWL) is still being determined. The research sought to determine if these diets representing high potassium (K): low sodium (Na) ratio (W, PW and PWL) was associated with changes in the membrane bound proteins that transport nutrients in the rumen epithelium (RE). Information about these proteins and the influence of different diets is scarce due to difficulties developing a procedure to examine them using quantitative proteomics. The research focuses on proteins extracted using an enzymatic procedure (Bond et al. 2019) from the rumen epithelium layer of the sheep’s’ forestomach. A membrane protein enriched fraction was then extracted and prepared for TMT-MS. The comprehensive assignment of proteins (>4000) to cellular location and quantification of differences in protein abundance will progress the annotation and understanding of protein functions in the ruminant genomes.
Project description:We perform transcriptomic sequencing of rumen, reticulum, omasum, and abomasum epithelial tissues from developing lambs. We then performed gene expression profiling analysis using data obtained from RNA-seq of 4 different cells at two time points (day5 and day10).
Project description:This study identifies key microbiome and epithelial cell subtypes involved in grass digestion and VFA metabolism in the rumen. By integrating multi-omic data, we reveal novel links between microbial activity, epithelial cell function, and grassland foraging, providing critical insights into mechanisms underlying grass prevalence and their implications for optimizing ruminant health and productivity. This research enhances our understanding of the grass-microbiome- rumen axis and its role in sustainable grazing systems.
Project description:Our group has developed an extra-uterine environment for newborn development (EXTEND) using an ovine model, that aims to mimic the womb to improve short and long-term health outcomes associated with prematurity. This study’s objective was to determine the histologic and transcriptomic consequences of EXTEND on the brain. Histology and RNA-sequencing was conducted on brain tissue from three cohorts of lambs: control pre-term (106-107 days), control late pre-term (127 days), and experimental lambs who were born pre-term and supported on EXTEND until late pre-term age (125-128 days). Bioinformatic analysis determined differential gene expression among the three cohorts and across four different brain tissue sections: basal ganglia, cerebellum, hippocampus, and motor cortex. There were no clinically relevant histological differences between the control late pre-term and EXTEND ovine brain tissues. RNA-sequencing demonstrated that there was greater differential gene expression between the control pre-term lambs and EXTEND lambs than between the control late pre-term lambs and EXTEND lambs. Our study demonstrates that the use of EXTEND to support pre-term lambs until they reach late pre-term gestational age results in brain tissue gene expression that more closely resembles that of the lambs who reached late pre-term gestation within their maternal sheep’s womb than that of the lambs who were born prematurely.