Abstract
The rumen microbiome plays a vital role in providing nutrition to the host animal, thereby influencing ruminant production. Despite its importance, it is not fully understood how variation in the ruminal bacteria community composition influences dry matter intake (DMI), milk yield and ruminal fermentative parameters in dairy cows, especially during freshening period. Here, we hypothesized that during early lactation, high DMI cows having a different ruminal microbiota than low DMI cows, and that this difference persists over time. To test this, we enrolled 65 fresh and determinzed their DMI using an auto-feed intake recording system. Fourteen days after calving, the 10 animals with the lowest (LFI) and the 10 animals with the highest (HFI)-average DMI were selected for further analysis. Rumen fluid was collected from these two cohorts at 1 (Fresh1d) and 14 days (Fresh14d) after calving and their ruminal microbiota were assessed using 16S rRNA sequencing. Volatile fatty acid (VFA) concentrations were also quantified. Comparison of the ruminal microbiotas between Fresh1d and Fresh14d showed that Fresh14d cows had a significantly higher relative abundance of VFA—producing microbes (P < 0.05), such as Prevotella_7 and Succinivibrionaceae_UCG-001. This was commensurate with the concentrations of acetate, propionate, butyrate, valerate and total VFAs, were also significantly (P < 0.05) increased in Fresh14d cows. We also found that the differences in the ruminal microbiota between LFI and HFI cows was limited, but DMI significantly altered (P < 0.05) the relative proportion of bacteria in the families Coriobacteriaceae, and Succinivibrionaceae. Furthermore, specific operational taxonomic units belonging to the Anaeroplasma was significantly (P < 0.05) correlated with DMI and milk yield. Taking together, our findings provide a framework for future studies of freshening period cow that seek to better understand the role of the ruminal microbiota during this critical period in the lactation cycle.
Highlights
Dairy cows are important global contributors to agriculture as sources of milk and milk products
We found that dry matter intake (DMI) increased and significantly differed (P < 0.05) between LFI and HFI groups (Table 2)
Given that low DMI in fresh cows is known to result in reduced lactation efficiency and increased risk for host metabolic syndromes, understanding the dynamics of the ruminal microbiota during this period may provide a framework for managing this critical transition period
Summary
Dairy cows are important global contributors to agriculture as sources of milk and milk products. A critical stage in the dairy cow production lifecycle is the transition period, which occurs between lactation cycles and spans from 3 weeks before to 3 weeks after calving. During this period, cows undergo dramatic changes in host physiology and nutrient metabolism, which can result in health disorders, reduced dry matter intake (DMI), and lower milk yield. Recent studies reported the difference of rumen microbiota under the different feed intake of lactating dairy cows (Li et al, 2020) and yaks (Shi et al, 2020). There are no studies focused on the difference of rumen microbiota between low and high feed intake in dairy cows during the freshening period
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