Background: Health-promoting polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) are abundant in forages grazed by ruminants and in vegetable and fish oils used as dietary supplements, but only a small proportion of PUFA finds its way into meat and milk, because of biohydrogenation in the rumen. Butyrivibrio fibrisolvens plays a major role in this activity. The aim of this study was to investigate the mechanisms by which PUFA affect the growth of B. fibrisolvens, how PUFA are metabolized and the metabolic response to growth in the presence of PUFA. Results Linoleic acid (LA; cis-9, cis-12-18:2) and α-linolenic acid (LNA; cis-9, cis-12, cis-15-18:3) increased the lag phase of B. fibrisolvens JW11, LNA having the greater effect. Growth was initiated only when the PUFA had been converted to vaccenic acid (VA; trans- 11-18:1). The major fish oil fatty acids, eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA; 20:5(n- 3)) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA; 22:6(n- 3)), were not metabolized and prevented growth. Cellular integrity, as determined fluorimetrically by propidium iodide (PI) ingression, was affected as much by 18:1 fatty acids, including VA, as 18:2 fatty acids. The methyl esters of LNA, LA, EPA and DHA had no effect on growth or other measurements. The ATP pool decreased by 2/3 when LA was added to growing bacteria, whereas most acyl CoA pools decreased by >96%. Conclusions It was concluded that biohydrogenation occurs to enable B. fibrisolvens to survive the bacteriostatic effects of PUFA, and that the toxicity of PUFA is probably mediated via a metabolic effect rather than disruption of membrane integrity.

Nitrate can serve as a terminal electron acceptor in place of carbon dioxide and inhibit methane emission in the rumen and nitrate reducing bacteria might help enhance the reduction of nitrate/nitrite, which depends on the type of feed offered to animals. In this study the effects of three levels of sodium nitrate (0, 5, 10 mM) on fermentation of three diets varying in their wheat straw to concentrate ratio (700:300, low concentrate, LC; 500:500, medium concentrate, MC and 300:700, high concentrate, HC diet) were investigated in vitro using buffalo rumen liquor as inoculum. Nitrate reducing bacteria, isolated from the rumen of buffalo were tested as a probiotic to study if it could help in enhancing methane inhibition in vitro. Inclusion of sodium nitrate at 5 or 10 mM reduced (p<0.01) methane production (9.56, 7.93 vs. 21.76 ml/g DM; 12.20, 10.42 vs. 25.76 ml/g DM; 15.49, 12.33 vs. 26.86 ml/g DM) in LC, MC and HC diets, respectively. Inclusion of nitrate at both 5 and 10 mM also reduced (p<0.01) gas production in all the diets, but in vitro true digestibility (IVTD) of feed reduced (p<0.05) only in LC and MC diets. In the medium at 10 mM sodium nitrate level, there was 0.76 to 1.18 mM of residual nitrate and nitrite (p<0.01) also accumulated. In an attempt to eliminate residual nitrate and nitrite in the medium, the nitrate reducing bacteria were isolated from buffalo adapted to nitrate feeding and introduced individually (3 ml containing 1.2 to 2.3×10(6) cfu/ml) into in vitro incubations containing the MC diet with 10 mM sodium nitrate. Addition of live culture of NRBB 57 resulted in complete removal of nitrate and nitrite from the medium with a further reduction in methane and no effect on IVTD compared to the control treatments containing nitrate with autoclaved cultures or nitrate without any culture. The data revealed that nitrate reducing bacteria can be used as probiotic to prevent the accumulation of nitrite when sodium nitrate is used to reduce in vitro methane emissions.

Objective: An experiment was conducted to study the effect of a blend of essential oils (BEO) on enteric methane emission and growth performance of buffaloes (Bubalus bubalis). Methods: Twenty one growing male buffaloes (average body weight of 279 +/- 9.3 kg) were divided in to three groups. The animals of all the three groups were fed on a ration consisting of wheat straw and concentrate mixture targeting 500 g daily live weight gain. The three dietary groups were; Group 1, control without additive; Group 2 and 3, supplemented with BEO at 0.15 and 0.30 mL/kg of dry matter intake (DMI), respectively. Results: During six months feeding trial, the intake and digestibility of dry matter and nutrients (organic matter, crude protein, ether extract, neutral detergent fibre, and acid detergent fibre) were similar in all the groups. The average body weight gain was tended to improve (p = 0.084) in Group 2 and Group 3 as compared to control animals. Feeding of BEO did not affect feed conversion efficiency of the animals. The calves of all the three groups were in positive nitrogen balance with no difference in nitrogen metabolism. During respiration chamber studies the methane production (L/kg DMI and L/kg digestible dry matter intake was significantly (p<0.001) lower in Group 2 and Group 3 as compared to control animals. Conclusion: The results indicated that the BEO tested in the present study have shown potential to reduce enteric methane production without compromising the nutrient utilization and animal performance and could be further explored for its use as feed additive to mitigate enteric methane production in livestock.

Animal Production Science (continuing Australian Journal of Experimental Agriculture) publishes original research into applied agriculture including animal production, animal-plant interactions, pasture and fodder crops, field crops, extension and horticulture