The objectives of this study were to investigate the effects of different forage-to-concentrate ratios and sampling times on the genetic diversity of carbohydrate-active enzymes (CAZymes) and the taxonomic profile of rumen microbial communities in dairy cows. Six ruminally cannulated Holstein cows were arbitrarily divided into groups fed high-forage (HF) or low-forage (LF) diets. The results showed that, for glycoside hydrolase (GH) families, there were greater differences based on dietary forage-to-concentrate ratio than sampling time. The HF treatment group at 4 h after feeding (AF4h) had the most microbial diversity. Genes that encode GHs had the highest number of CAZymes, and accounted for 57.33% and 56.48% of all CAZymes in the HF and LF treatments, respectively. The majority of GH family genes encode oligosaccharide-degrading enzymes, and GH2, GH3, and GH43 were synthesized by a variety of different genera. Notably, we found that GH3 was higher in HF than LF diet samples, and mainly produced by Prevotella, Bacteroides, and unclassified reads. Most predicted cellulase enzymes were encoded by GH5 (the BF0h group under HF treatment was highest) and GH95 (the BF0h group under LF treatment was highest), and were primarily derived from Bacteroides, Butyrivibrio, and Fibrobacter. Approximately 67.5% (GH28) and 65.5% (GH53) of the putative hemicellulases in LF and HF treatments, respectively. GH28 under LF treatment was more abundant than under HF treatment, and was mainly produced by Ruminococcus, Prevotella, and Bacteroides. This study revealed that HF-fed cows had increased microbial diversity of CAZyme producers, which encode enzymes that efficiently degrade plant cell wall polysaccharides in the cow rumen.

Background: The objectives of this study were to evaluate the profiles of odd- and branched-chain fatty acids (OBCFA; including C15:0, iso-C15:0, anteiso-C15:0, iso-C16:0, C17:0, iso-C17:0 and anteiso-C17:0) during pure carbohydrates incubation in vitro and whether they correlated with ruminal fermentation parameters, microbial crude protein (MCP) synthesis, and bacterial populations. The pure substrates containing five different ratios of fiber and starch (F:S; 0:100, 25:75, 50:50, 75:25 and 100:0) were incubated for 6 h, 12 h, 18 h and 24 h. Results: Except iso-C17:0, OBCFA concentrations were interacted by F:S and incubation time. The highest concentration of total OBCFA was found in the fermented mixture after 24 h of incubation when the F:S = 0:100; while the lowest level was 1.65 mg/g DM produced after 6 h of incubation with F:S = 50:50. The concentrations of total volatile fatty acids (TVFA) and MCP remarkably decreased linearly as the inclusion of fiber in the substrates increased, as expected. The proportions of investigated cellulolytic bacteria in our study were increased linearly (or linearly and quadratically) while those of R. amylophilus and S. bovis were decreased as fiber inclusion increased. The correlation analysis indicated that iso-C16:0 concentration might have potential as a marker of productions of TVFA and MCP with ρ being 0.78 and 0.82 respectively. Compared to starch degrading bacteria, cellulolytic bacteria had more correlations with OBCFA profiles, and the strongest association was found on the population of R. flavefaciens with C15:0 concentration (ρ = 0.70). Conclusions: Our study shows there might be scope for iso-C16:0 to predict rumen productions of VFA and MCP. Notedly, this is the first paper reporting linkage of OBCFA with rumen function based on pure carbohydrate in vitro incubation, which would avoid confounding interference from dietary protein and fat presence. However, more in-depth experiments are needed to substantiate the current findings.

Background Liquid feed are the major nutrient source that can have a significant impact on the growth and development of immune system of calves before weaning. Waste milk containing antibiotic residue has been produced because of the continuous expansion of dairy farms. In order to reduce economic loss and prevent environmental pollution, most farms seem waste milk as one of the calves’ liquid feeds. However, there is limited information to report the effects of waste milk on growth performance, especially immunity function of calves. Thus, the objective of this study was to investigate the effects of waste milk on growth, immunity and gut health of dairy calves. Results Feeding WM improved hip width, hip height, heart girth, final body weight, and feed efficiency of dairy calves compared to MR. Plasma concentrations of IgA, IgM, IgG and IL-10 were higher and TNF-α was lower in WM group. In addition, treatment and time interactively affected plasma concentrations of IgG and IL-2, which increased and decreased in WM group but decreased and increased in MR group, respectively, from 49 to 70 d of age. There was no difference in diarrhea case and average days of diarrhea among treatments. Difference in fecal microbiota was observed between MR and WM groups only at 49 d of age. Analysis of differential abundance showed that the increase in the relative abundance of Prevotellaceae NK3B31 group and the decrease in that of Bacteroides was higher in WM than MM group from 49 to 70 d of age. Conclusions WM had beneficial effects on growth performance and did not affect health statue, which might be explained by enhanced immune function modulated by fecal microbiota.