Influence of and aqueous extract on cattle ruminal gas production and degradability .

Introduction: Mitigation of ruminant greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions is crucial for more appropriate livestock production. Thus, there is a need of further research evaluating feed supplementation strategies to mitigate enteric GHG emissions and other gases produced within the rumen.

Methods: This study was conducted as a completely randomized experimental design to determine the effectiveness of liquid extracts from (AZI), (CNA), or their combination (Mix.

Feeding concentrate with hay of different qualities modulates rumen histology, development of digestive tract as well as slaughter performance and meat quality of young dairy calves.

Concentrate-rich starter diets are commonly fed to dairy calves to stimulate growth performance. However, feeding high amounts of starter feed with low inclusion of forage fibre may jeopardise the development of the gastrointestinal tract (GIT). Moreover, studies investigating the effects of feeding on carcass and meat quality of young calves at rearing are rare.

Plant-oriented microbiome inoculum modulates age-related maturation of gut-mucosal expression of innate immune and barrier function genes in suckling and weaned piglets.

In the immediate time after weaning, piglets often show symptoms of gut inflammation. The change to a plant-based diet, lack of sow milk, and the resulting novel gut microbiome and metabolite profile in digesta may be causative factors for the observed inflammation. We used the intestinal loop perfusion assay (ILPA) to investigate jejunal and colonic expression of genes for antimicrobial secretion, oxidative stress, barrier function, and inflammatory signaling in suckling and weaned piglets when exposed to "plant-oriented" microbiome (POM) representing postweaning digesta with gut-site specific microbial and metabolite composition.

Effects of High Concentrate-Induced Subacute Ruminal Acidosis Severity on Claw Health in First-Lactation Holstein Cows.

This study aimed to evaluate the effects of diet-induced subacute rumen acidosis (SARA) severity during transition and the early lactation period on claw health in 24 first-lactation Holstein heifers. All heifers were fed a 30% concentrate (in dry matter) close-up ration three weeks before calving, then switched to a high-concentrate ration (60% dry matter), which was fed until the 70th day in milk (DIM) to induce SARA. Thereafter, all cows were fed the same post-SARA ration with around 36% concentrate in dry matter.

Zearalenone and Its Emerging Metabolites Promptly Affect the Rumen Microbiota in Holstein Cows Fed a Forage-Rich Diet.

The study investigated the short-term effects of a single oral bolus of zearalenone (ZEN) on the rumen microbiota and fermentation patterns in four rumen-cannulated Holstein cows fed a forage diet with daily 2 kg/cow concentrate. During the baseline day, cows received uncontaminated concentrate, followed by ZEN-contaminated concentrate on the second day, and again the uncontaminated concentrate on day three. Free rumen liquid (FRL) and particle-associated rumen liquid (PARL) were collected at different hours post-feeding on all days to analyze the prokaryotic community composition, absolute abundances of bacteria, archaea, protozoa, and anaerobic fungi, as well as short-chain fatty acid (SCFA) profiles.

Changes in eating time, chewing activity and dust concentration in horses fed either alfalfa cubes or long-stem hay.

Background: Chewing is an essential physiological process in horses; yet, the physical form of feeds may affect their chewing and feeding behaviour with consequences for equine digestion and health.

Objectives And Methods: The present study evaluated the potential of a commercial forage cubes made from alfalfa and mixed meadow grasses to maintain chewing activity when compared with a traditional long and fibre-rich hay. An additional aim was to measure the dust formation during feeding.

Creep Feeding and Weaning Influence the Postnatal Evolution of the Plasma Metabolome in Neonatal Piglets.

Data on the evolution of blood metabolites and metabolic markers in neonatal piglets are scarce, although this information is vital to detect physiological aberrations from normal development. We aimed to characterize age- and nutrition-related changes in the plasma metabolome and serum biochemistry of suckling and newly weaned piglets and assess metabolite patterns as physiological markers for the two phases. In two replicate batches ( = 10 litters/group), piglets either received sow milk alone or were additionally offered creep feed from day 10 until weaning (day 28).

Mixtures of Mycotoxins, Phytoestrogens, and Other Secondary Metabolites in Whole-Plant Corn Silages and Total Mixed Rations of Dairy Farms in Central and Northern Mexico.

Mycotoxins and endocrine disruptors such as phytoestrogens can affect cattle health, reproduction, and productivity. Most studies of mycotoxins in dairy feeds in Mexico and worldwide have been focused on a few (regulated) mycotoxins. In contrast, less known fungal toxins, phytoestrogens, and other metabolites have been neglected and underestimated.

Monoterpene synthases of three closely related sage species (Salvia officinalis, S. fruticosa and S. pomifera, Lamiaceae).

The diversity of plant monoterpenes is largely based on the catalytic activity of monoterpene synthases. Additionally, copy number variation of monoterpene synthase genes may contribute to the quantity of transcripts and hence to the essential oil profile. This study used whole-genome sequencing and digital PCR for the measurement of copy number variation and quantification of gene expression in three closely related Salvia species, namely Salvia officinalis, Salvia pomifera and Salvia fruticosa.

Selective decline of bacteria colonizing the calf hindgut during colostrum to milk transition, with persistence of taxa correlating with host passive immunity.

In neonate calves, the association between gut microbial colonization and passive immunity acquisition remains largely unknown. We evaluated the effect of transition from colostrum to milk on the hindgut microbiota, and the correlations between acquired passive immunity and this microbiome. In 14 Holstein calves, colostrum quality and host passive immunity were measured, feces were sampled when feeding colostrum and after transition to milk.

MicroRNAs in Ruminants and Their Potential Role in Nutrition and Physiology.

The knowledge of how diet choices, dietary supplements, and feed intake influence molecular mechanisms in ruminant nutrition and physiology to maintain ruminant health, is essential to attain. In the present review, we focus on the role of microRNAs in ruminant health and disease; additionally, we discuss the potential of circulating microRNAs as biomarkers of disease in ruminants and the state of technology for their detection, also considering the major difficulties in the transition of biomarker development from bench to clinical practice. MicroRNAs are an inexhaustible class of endogenous non-protein coding small RNAs of 18 to 25 nucleotides that target either the 3' untranslated (UTR) or coding region of genes, ensuring a tight post-transcriptionally controlled regulation of gene expression.

Differential carbon utilization enables co-existence of recently speciated Campylobacteraceae in the cow rumen epithelial microbiome.

The activities of different microbes in the cow rumen have been shown to modulate the host's ability to utilize plant biomass, while the host-rumen interface has received little attention. As datasets collected worldwide have pointed to Campylobacteraceae as particularly abundant members of the rumen epithelial microbiome, we targeted this group in a subset of seven cows with meta- and isolate genome analysis. We show that the dominant Campylobacteraceae lineage has recently speciated into two populations that were structured by genome-wide selective sweeps followed by population-specific gene import and recombination.

and Propolis in Cattle Nutrition: Characterization of Metabolic Activities in the Rumen In Vitro.

Moringa oleifera by-products such as seed cake and leaves are protein-rich ingredients, while raw propolis has the potential to influence ruminal protein metabolism. These substances are also known to be sources of functional compounds. With these properties, they could modulate ruminal fermentation activities.

Diet and phytogenic supplementation substantially modulate the salivary proteome in dairy cows.

Phytogenic compounds may influence salivation or salivary properties. However, their effects on the bovine salivary proteome have not been evaluated. We investigated changes in the bovine salivary proteome due to transition from forage to high-concentrate diet, with and without supplementation with a phytogenic feed additive.

Decoding molecular programs in melanoma brain metastases.

Melanoma brain metastases (MBM) variably respond to therapeutic interventions; thus determining patient's prognosis. However, the mechanisms that govern therapy response are poorly understood. Here, we use a multi-OMICS approach and targeted sequencing (TargetSeq) to unravel the programs that potentially control the development of progressive intracranial disease.

Available phosphorus levels modulate gene expression related to intestinal calcium and phosphorus absorption and bone parameters differently in gilts and barrows.

Objective: Dietary phytase increases bioavailability of phytate-bound phosphorus (P) in pig nutrition affecting dietary calcium (Ca) to P ratio, intestinal uptake, and systemic utilization of both minerals, which may contribute to improper bone mineralization. We used phytase to assess long-term effects of two dietary available P (aP) levels using a one-phase feeding system on gene expression related to Ca and P homeostasis along the intestinal tract and in the kidney, short-chain fatty acids in stomach, cecum, and colon, serum, and bone parameters in growing gilts and barrows.

Methods: Growing pigs (37.

Residues of pesticides and veterinary drugs in diets of dairy cattle from conventional and organic farms in Austria.

Modern agriculture depends highly on pesticides and pharmaceutical preparations, so controlling exposure to these substances in the feed and food chain is essential. This article presents the first study on residues of a broad spectrum of pesticides and veterinary drugs in the diets of dairy cattle. One hundred and two representative samples of the complete diets, including basal feed rations and additional fed concentrate, were collected in three Austrian provinces (Styria, Lower and Upper Austria) in 2019 and 2020.

Variations in fecal pH and fecal particle size due to changes in dietary starch: Their potential as an on-farm tool for assessing the risk of ruminal acidosis in dairy cattle.

This study evaluated the variations in fecal pH and particle size due to changes in dietary starch, and the potential of these variations as a tool to detect the risk of subacute ruminal acidosis (SARA) in dairy cows. Nine ruminally cannulated, non-lactating, non-pregnant Holstein cows were used in two 6-week experimental periods. In each period, cows were first fed a forage diet for 1 wk.

Seasonal Variability in Pyrrolizidine Alkaloids in Jacobaea alpina from the Trentino-Alto Adige Region (Northern Italy).

In recent years, increased attention has been given to plants containing toxic pyrrolizidine alkaloids (PAs). Jacobaea alpina (syn. Senecio cordatus) is a tall forb growing on mountain pastures and meadows containing such alkaloids and therefore, the plant is considered as a noxious weed in these environments.

Exposure to plant-oriented microbiome altered jejunal and colonic innate immune response and barrier function more strongly in suckling than in weaned piglets.

Weaning often leaves the piglet vulnerable to gut dysfunction. Little is known about the acute response of a gut mucosa primed by a milk-oriented microbiome before weaning to a plant-oriented microbiome (POM) after weaning. We evaluated the epithelial structure, secretory response and permeability in the small and large intestines of piglets receiving a milk-based (i.

Mixtures of mycotoxins, phytoestrogens and pesticides co-occurring in wet spent brewery grains (BSG) intended for dairy cattle feeding in Austria.

Spent brewery grains (BSG) are the main by-product of beer production and are incorporated in rations of food-delivering animals, mainly dairy cows. Like other agricultural commodities, BSG can be contaminated by a broad spectrum of natural and synthetic undesirable substances, which can be hazardous to animal and human health as well as to the environment. The co-occurrence of mycotoxins, phytoestrogens, other fungal and plant secondary metabolites, along with pesticides, was investigated in 21 BSG samples collected in dairy farms in Austria.

Suitability of anaerobic fungi culture supernatant or mixed ruminal fluid as novel silage additives.

This study investigated silage quality characteristics and ruminal fiber degradability of grass and straw ensiled with either anaerobic fungi (AF) supernatant with active fungal enzymes or mixed ruminal fluid as novel silage additives. Compared to control silages, AF supernatant improved the quality of grass and straw silages as evidenced by decreased pH, acetic acid concentration, and dry matter losses. Likewise, mixed ruminal fluid enhanced lactic acid fermentation, which further resulted in lower pH of the treated grass silage.

Effect of inclusion of bakery by-products in the dairy cow's diet on milk fatty acid composition.

Bakery by-products (BP), rich in fats and sugars, are unconventional feed sources for cows whose effects on milk fat composition have not yet been evaluated. This research paper aimed to assess the effects of dietary BP inclusion rate and feeding period on the milk fatty acid composition. Twenty-four Simmental cows were fed a diet without BP (CON) for 1 week.

Characterization of presence and activity of microRNAs in the rumen of cattle hints at possible host-microbiota cross-talk mechanism.

MicroRNAs (miRNAs), as important post-transcriptional regulators, are ubiquitous in various tissues. The aim of this exploratory study was to determine the presence of miRNAs in rumen fluid, and to investigate the possibility of miRNA-mediated cross-talk within the ruminal ecosystem. Rumen fluid samples from four cannulated Holstein cows were collected during two feeding regimes (forage and high-grain diet) and DNA and RNA were extracted for amplicon and small RNA sequencing.

Effect of Duration of High-Grain Feeding on Chewing, Feeding Behavior, and Salivary Composition in Cows with or without a Phytogenic Feed Supplement.

Switching diets from forage to a high-grain (HG) diet increases the risk of rumen fermentation disorders in cattle. However, the effects of the duration of the HG feeding, after the diet switch, on animal behavior and health have received considerably less attention. This experiment primarily aimed to assess the effects of the duration of an HG diet on the chewing, eating, and lying behavior and salivation dynamics in a control group (CON) and a group of cows receiving a phytogenic feed supplement (TRT) at 0.