Sharpea and Kandleria are lactic acid producing rumen bacteria that do not change their fermentation products when co-cultured with a methanogen.

Sharpea and Kandleria are associated with rumen samples from low-methane-emitting sheep. Four strains of each genus were studied in culture, and the genomes of nine strains were analysed, to understand the physiology of these bacteria. All eight cultures grew equally well with d-glucose, d-fructose, d-galactose, cellobiose, and sucrose supplementation.

Global DNA methylation measurement by HPLC using low amounts of DNA.

Epigenetic changes in chromatin structure can influence gene expression without affecting the DNA sequence. The most commonly studied epigenetic modification, DNA methylation, has been implicated in normal tissue development and disease progression, and can be influenced by diet and other environmental factors. Current HPLC methods of determining DNA methylation may require relatively large amounts of DNA (50 μg); as many tissues have low DNA yields, this can be hard to achieve.

Intestinal, hepatic, splanchnic and hindquarter amino acid and metabolite partitioning during an established Trichostrongylus colubriformis infection in the small intestine of lambs fed fresh Sulla (Hedysarum coronarium).

Increased partitioning of amino acids (AA) from skeletal muscle to the intestine and immune system during parasitic infection may be the cause of poor growth in parasitised animals. The effect of an established Trichostrongylus colubriformis infection (6000 L3 T. colubriformis larvae for 6 d (n 5) or kept as parasite-free controls (n 6)) on AA fluxes across the mesenteric-drained viscera, portal-drained viscera (PDV), liver, total splanchnic tissues (TSP) and hindquarters were determined in lambs fed fresh Sulla (Hedysarum coronarium; 800 g DM/d) 48 d post-infection.

Whole-body valine and cysteine kinetics and tissue fractional protein synthesis rates in lambs fed Sulla (Hedysarum coronarium) and infected or not infected with adult Trichostrongylus colubriformis.

Poor growth during parasitic infection may be due to a redistribution of amino acids away from skeletal muscle protein synthesis to the intestinal site of infection. The effect of a Trichostrongylus colubriformis infection on whole-body amino acid kinetics and tissue fractional protein synthesis rates were determined in lambs fed fresh Sulla (Hedysarum coronarium; 800 g DM/d). Lambs were dosed with 6000 L3 Trichostrongylus colubriformis larvae daily for 6 d (n 6) or kept as parasite-free controls (n 6).

Effect of food intake on energy and protein metabolism in the skin of Romney sheep.

Sheep fed on either a low (500 g lucern (Medicago sativa) chaff/d; L) or high (1100 g lucerne chaff/d; H) intake had measurements made, using arterio-venous techniques, of blood flow and energy metabolite and cysteine utilization in the skin. Sheep on the H intake had significantly increased skin blood flow (P = 0.014) and oxygen uptake (P = 0.