Maize silage is produced to alleviate the effects of forage shortages on ruminant animals, particularly during the dry season. Microorganisms play a significant role in silage fermentation and thus, to a large extent, determine the silage quality. The modulation of silage microorganisms may help to inhibit undesirable bacteria and improve the silage quality. Therefore, condensed tannin extract from Vachellia mearnsii bark was used as an additive in maize silage during ensiling. Hence, this study evaluated the effects of a tannin extract (condensed tannin) additive on the fermentative quality, aerobic stability, and bacterial composition of maize silage. A mini-silo experiment on maize with five treatments was conducted for 75 days. The silage treatments were as follows: (T1) maize forage with no inoculation (negative control); (T2) maize forage inoculated with LAB and 1% tannin extract; (T3) maize forage inoculated with LAB only (positive control); (T4) and maize forage inoculated with LAB and 2% tannin extract; (T5) maize forage inoculated with LAB and 3% tannin extract. The results showed that the additives modulated the silage microorganism composition. However, this was without affecting the silage’s fermentative quality and aerobic stability. All the silages recorded a pH below 4.2, which indicated well-fermented silage. The tannin extract suppressed the growth of undesirable bacteria, such as Dysgonomonas, Gluconacetobacter and Clostridium genera, while promoting desirable bacteria, such as Lactobacillus and Weissella genera, which were attributed to the silage quality. It is thus concluded that tannins can be strategically used as silage additives to modulate the microbial composition of silage and improve the silage quality by promoting the dominance of the desirable bacteria in the silage.

Maize silage is produced to alleviate forage shortage on dairy animals, particularly during the dry season. Microorganisms play a significant role in silage fermentation and thus determine the silage quality. Therefore, modulation of microorganisms in silage may help prohibit undesired bacteria and improve silage quality. Hence, this study evaluated the effects of tannin extract as an additive on fermentative quality, aerobic stability and microbial composition of maize silage. Therefore, a mini-silo experiment of maize with five treatments was conducted for 75 days. The results showed that additives modulate silage microorganisms. In addition, tannin extract reduced certain silage bacteria while promoting others. However, this is without affecting the silage’s fermentative quality and aerobic stability. All silage fermented well with a pH below 4.2. Tannin extract improved dry matter recovery of silage while reducing silage weight loss. Furthermore, tannin extract suppressed the establishment of undesired bacteria, such as genera Dysgonomonas, Gluconacetobacter and Clostridium, while promoting desirable bacteria, such as genera Lactobacillus and Weissella, which attributed to silage quality. Therefore, it is concluded that tannins can be strategically used as silage additives to modulate microbial composition of silage and improve silage quality by promoting the dominance of desirable bacteria in silage.

This study reports the draft genome sequence of Lactobacillus acidophilus strain WGS8 isolated from cow raw milk. This strain exhibits genetic features associated with probiotic functionality. The draft genome is 1,957,515 bp in length, assembled into 16 contigs.

Background and Aims: Bovine anaplasmosis is an intracellular tick‐borne, non‐contagious disease caused by gram‐negative bacteria of the family Anaplasmataceae and order Rickettsia. Anaplasma phagocytophilum is the etiological agent for human granulocytic anaplasmosis associated with severe health implications in parts of Europe and the USA and tick‐borne fever in a broad host range, including cattle. Major surface protein 4 (MSP‐4) is highly conserved and recognized as an essential immunodominant protein on the bacterial membrane, playing a crucial role in host‐cell interaction. Despite the pathogenic and zoonotic implications of A. phagocytophilum , effective vaccines have not been developed. The present research aimed to develop multiple epitope‐based constructs targeting the pathogen, with the aid of computational immunology tools within a reverse vaccinology framework. Methods: The development and design of a multiepitope vaccine construct targeting the major surface protein‐4 (MSP‐4) antigen were accomplished using an immunoinformatic approach. Results: The vaccine design incorporated 10 CD8 ⁺ , 9 CD4 ⁺ , and 2 B‐cell epitopes, interlinked through AAK, GPGPG, and KK peptides to facilitate optimal presentation of efficient conformation. The EAAK linker facilitated the precise attachment of the immunostimulant adjuvant to the N‐terminal of the subunit vaccine, thereby augmenting its capacity to stimulate and boost the immunogenic efficacy of the vaccine. The construct demonstrated a high antigenicity (0.84), was free from allergenic reactions, exhibited excellent solubility (0.97), structurally stable during binding interactions, and an inducer of important cytokines such as IFN‐γ and interleukin 4. The vaccine construct weighs 47.98 kDa, with a calculated aliphatic index score (98.33), overall predicted instability index value (29.94), and a GRAVY value of 0.339, revealing favorable physicochemical properties that suggest its overall stability and hydrophobicity. Conclusion: The vaccine construct induced sufficient humoral and cellular response during immune simulation. Analysis of the immunogen model further confirmed its potential to stimulate the immune system effectively against bovine A. phagocytophilum infection. However, further validation is required using experimental approaches.

This study reports the draft genome sequence of Bifidobacterium thermophilum strain CCRC, isolated from chicken faeces. This strain has potential probiotic properties. The draft genome is 2,260,057 bp and fragmented into 23 contigs.