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Special Issue Editors

Dr. Yutaka Uyeno

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Guest Editor

Faculty of Agriculture, Shinshu University, Nagano, Japan
Interests: rumen microbial community; ruminant feeding; nutrition; methane emission

Dr. Pradeep Kumar Malik

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Guest Editor

Bioenergetics and Environmental Sciences Division, ICAR-National Institute of Animal Nutrition and Physiology, Bengaluru, India
Interests: methane measurement; plant secondary metabolites; microbial diversity, functional genomics, methane mitigation
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Research interests in the rumen microbial consortium of ruminants have increased among investigators in various fields, such as applied microbiology, animal nutrition, veterinary science, etc. Recent findings by these researchers, particularly those based on “-omics” technology, have also contributed to unveiling the "hidden world" of the community’s structure and its functions. Moreover, increasing concerns about greenhouse gas emissions from ruminants need effective solutions to address global warming and improve production efficiency. As such, the more we recognize interests in rumen ecology, the more researchers have to be accountable about what is going on within the ruminant. However, I personally ask myself whether scientific discovery has succeeded in keeping in line with social demands. How can we continue to give satisfiable answers to questions from producers and consumers?

There is an emerging demand for research progress in the rumen microbial community, which is closely related to advances in production technology and in animal science. To elevate this Special Issue to help future industrial progress, the Guest Editors invite you to submit original research papers that deal with investigations into the rumen microbial community, linking this research to ruminant production, animal health, feeding, production, and reproduction. In particular, in vivo studies that use limited numbers of animals, making it difficult to find statistical significance but giving enough evidence to illuminate a corner of knowledge connected to future innovation, are welcome.

Dr. Yutaka Uyeno
Dr. Pradeep Kumar Malik
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Microorganisms is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

rumen
omics technology
ruminant production
global warming
microbial community

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

19 pages, 4151 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Effect of Tea Saponins on Rumen Microbiota and Rumen Function in Qinchuan Beef Cattle

by Xiaopeng Qu, Sayed Haidar Abbas Raza, Yanqing Zhao, Jiahan Deng, Jing Ma, Juze Wang, Nada Alkhorayef, Samia S. Alkhalil, Sameer D. Pant, Hongtao Lei and Linsen Zan

Microorganisms 2023, 11(2), 374; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/microorganisms11020374 - 01 Feb 2023

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1647

Abstract

Antibiotics can promote livestock growth but have side effects, so the search for safe and effective alternatives to antibiotics is urgent. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of supplementing cattle feed with tea saponins on ruminal bacteria and fungi. Sixteen Qinchuan beef cattle with a live body weight of 250 ± 10 kg were divided into four groups (four animals in each group) using a completely randomized experimental design. Four different levels of tea saponins were provided to the Qinchuan cattle as treatments, including 0 g/cattle per day control, CON), 10 g/cattle per day (low-level, LT), 20 g/cattle per day (medium-level, MT) and 30 g/cattle per day (high-level, HT). The pre-feeding period was 10 days and the official period was 80 days in this experiment. After 90 days of feeding, the rumen fluid from sixteen Qinchuan beef cattle was collected using an oral stomach tube for evaluating changes in ruminal microbiota and rumen fermentation parameters. Results indicate that the total VFAs and proportions of propionate in the LT group was significantly higher than that in the CON and HT groups (p < 0.05). For ruminal bacteria, results indicate that the Chao1 index of the MT group was significantly lower than the CON and HT groups (p < 0.05). The phyla Bacteroidetes and Firmicutes were found to be the most abundant in all treatment groups, with the LT group having significantly increased relative abundances of Proteobacteria, Actinobacteria and Ascomycota at the phylum level (p < 0.05). The relative abundance of Bacteroides was found to be relatively lower in the LT, MT and HT treatment groups compared with the CON treatment group at the genus level (p < 0.05). For ruminal fungi, the LT treatment group was found to have higher relative abundances of Saccharomyces and Aspergillus, and lower relative abundances of Succiniclasticum and Bacteroides at the at the phylum level (p < 0.05). Compared with the CON treatment group, a significant increase in the relative abundance of Saccharomyces and Aspergillus were observed in the LT treatment group at the genus level (p < 0.05). PICRUSt analyses identified pathways associated with Xenobiotic biodegradation and metabolism and glycolysisIII to be significantly enriched in the LT and HT treatment groups (p < 0.05). These findings could provide insights on how tea saponins may influence ruminal bacteria and fungi, providing a theoretical basis for replacing antibiotics with tea saponins for promoting growth in cattle. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Key Role of Rumen Microbial Community for Improving Production)

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Figure 1

17 pages, 11370 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Rumen and Fecal Microbiota Characteristics of Qinchuan Cattle with Divergent Residual Feed Intake

by Xiaonan Zhou, Ying Ma, Chaoyun Yang, Zhiyan Zhao, Yanling Ding, Yanfeng Zhang, Pengfei Wang, Lei Zhao, Chenglong Li, Zonghua Su, Xiaowei Wang, Wenxun Ming, Ling Zeng and Xiaolong Kang

Microorganisms 2023, 11(2), 358; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/microorganisms11020358 - 31 Jan 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2098

Abstract

Residual feed intake (RFI) is one of the indicators of feed efficiency. To investigate the microbial characteristics and differences in the gastrointestinal tract of beef cattle with different RFI, a metagenome methodology was used to explore the characteristics of the rumen and fecal microbiota in 10 Qinchuan cattle (five in each of the extremely high and extremely low RFI groups). The results of taxonomic annotation revealed that Bacteroidetes and Firmicutes were the most dominant phyla in rumen and feces. Prevotella was identified as a potential biomarker in the rumen of the LRFI group by the LEfSe method, while Turicibacter and Prevotella might be potential biomarkers of the HRFI and LRFI group in feces, respectively. Functional annotation revealed that the microbiota in the rumen of the HRFI group had a greater ability to utilize dietary polysaccharides and dietary protein. Association analysis of rumen microbes (genus level) with host genes revealed that microbiota including Prevotella, Paraprevotella, Treponema, Oscillibacter, and Muribaculum, were significantly associated with differentially expressed genes regulating RFI. This study discovered variances in the microbial composition of rumen and feces of beef cattle with different RFIs, demonstrating that differences in microbes may play a critical role in regulating the bovine divergent RFI phenotype variations. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Key Role of Rumen Microbial Community for Improving Production)

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