Abstract
The performance of ruminant livestock has been shown to benefit from the enhanced nutritive value and herbage yield associated with clover incorporation in the grazing sward. However, little research to date has been conducted investigating the effects of mixed swards containing white clover on the composition of the rumen microbiome. In this study, the rumen microbial composition of late lactation dairy cows grazing perennial ryegrass only (PRG; n = 20) or perennial ryegrass and white clover (WCPRG; n = 19) swards, was characterised using 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing. PERMANOVA analysis indicated diet significantly altered the composition of the rumen microbiome (P = 0.024). Subtle shifts in the relative abundance of 14 bacterial genera were apparent between diets, including an increased relative abundance of Lachnospira (0.04 vs. 0.23%) and Pseudobutyrivibrio (1.38 vs. 0.81%) in the WCPRG and PRG groups, respectively. The composition of the archaeal community was altered between dietary groups, with a minor increase in the relative abundance of Methanosphaera in the WCPRG observed. Results from this study highlight the potential for sward type to influence the composition of the rumen microbial community.
Highlights
The performance of ruminant livestock has been shown to benefit from the enhanced nutritive value and herbage yield associated with clover incorporation in the grazing sward
Legumes tend to have increased protein content and a reduced proportion of fibre in comparison to grasses[13]. It is these attributes that are common to legumes, which has resulted in the majority of authors concluding improvements to animal performance to arise from increased feed intakes and overall increase to the sward nutritive value associated with clover inclusion in pastoral systems[4,7,10]
Data generated from this study would suggest the grazing of swards with 24% clover content to be free of imbalances to the rumen microbiota as the relative abundance of Proteobacteria between diets was consistent
Summary
The performance of ruminant livestock has been shown to benefit from the enhanced nutritive value and herbage yield associated with clover incorporation in the grazing sward. Legumes tend to have increased protein content and a reduced proportion of fibre in comparison to grasses[13] It is these attributes that are common to legumes, which has resulted in the majority of authors concluding improvements to animal performance to arise from increased feed intakes (due to reduced NDF) and overall increase to the sward nutritive value (as a result of increased CP) associated with clover inclusion in pastoral systems[4,7,10]. To the best of our knowledge, only two studies have evaluated the effects of grazing swards containing white clover on the composition of the rumen microbiome using generation sequencing techniques[27,28]. Both studies reported minor or no effects on the rumen microbial composition, the potential for white clover inclusion in the sward to cause changes in the rumen microbiota has been suggested[27]
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