Effect of engineered biocarbon on rumen fermentation, microbial protein synthesis, and methane production in an artificial rumen (RUSITEC) fed a high forage diet.

The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of adding engineered biocarbon to a high-forage diet on ruminal fermentation, nutrient digestion, and enteric methane (CH4) production in a semi-continuous culture artificial rumen system (RUSITEC). The experiment was a completely randomized block design with four treatments assigned to sixteen fermentation vessels (four/treatment) in two RUSITEC apparatuses. The basal diet consisted of 60% barley silage, 27% barley grain, 10% canola meal, and 3% supplement (DM basis) with biocarbon added at 0, 0.5, 1, and 2% of substrate DM. The study period was 17 d, with a 10-d adaptation and 7-d sample collection period. Increasing biocarbon linearly increased (P < 0.05) disappearance of DM, OM, CP, ADF and NDF. Compared to control, increasing biocarbon enhanced (P < 0.01) production of total VFA, acetate, propionate, branch-chained VFAs, and tended to increase (P = 0.06) NH3-N. Microbial protein synthesis linearly increased (P = 0.01) with increasing biocarbon. Addition of biocarbon reduced overall CH4 production compared with the control (P ≤ 0.05). There were no differences (P > 0.05) in production of total gas, large or small peptides, or in the number of protozoa as a result of addition of biocarbon to the diet. Addition of biocarbon to a forage diet increased DM digestibility by up to 2%, while lowering enteric CH4 production and enhancing microbial protein synthesis in in vitro semi- continuous culture fermenters.

Effect of conjugated linoleic acids from beef or industrial hydrogenation on growth and adipose tissue characteristics of rats.

BACKGROUND: The conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) content of beef can be increased by supplementing appropriate beef cattle diets with vegetable oil or oil seed. Yet the effect of consumption of such beef on adipose tissue characteristics is unclear, thus the study was conducted to compare adipose tissue responses of rats to diets containing beef from steers either not provided or provided the oil supplements to alter CLA composition of the fat in muscle. METHODS: Effects of feeding synthetic (industrial hydrogenation) CLA or CLA from beef on growth and adipose tissue responses of weanling, male, Wistar rats (n = 56; 14 per treatment diet) were investigated in a completely randomized design experiment. Diets were: control (CON) diet containing casein and soybean oil, synthetic CLA (SCLA) diet; where 1.69% synthetic CLA replaced soybean oil, two beef-diets; CONM and CLAM, containing freeze dried beef from steers either not fed or fed 14% sunflower seeds to increase CLA content of beef. Diets were isonitrogenous (20% protein) and isocaloric. Rat weights and ad libitum intakes were recorded every 2 wk. After 9 wk, rats were fasted for 24 h, blood sampled by heart puncture, sacrificed, tissue and organs were harvested and weights recorded. The adipose tissue responses with regard to cellularity and fatty acid compositions of retroperitoneal and inguinal adipose tissue were determined. RESULTS: Body weights and gains were comparable, but organ weights as percent of body weight were greater for rats fed SCLA than CONM. Fasting blood glucose concentration was lower (p < 0.01) in rats fed SCLA than those fed CONM or CLAM. Retroperitoneal and inguinal fat weights, as percent of body weight were greater (p < 0.01) in rats fed CONM or CLAM than those fed CON or SCLA diets. Adipocyte numbers were least in retroperitoneal tissue of rats fed SCLA, while inguinal tissue cell density and total number were lower (p = 0.02) in rats fed CLAM (7.26 x 107 cells/g and 8.03 x 108 cells) than those fed CONM (28.88 x 107 cells/g and 32.05 x 108 cells, respectively). CONCLUSION: Study suggests that dietary CLA either as synthetic or high CLA-beef may alter adipose tissue characteristics by decreasing the number of adipocytes and by decreasing the size of the tissue.

Oral and rectal administration of bacteriophages for control of Escherichia coli O157:H7 in feedlot cattle.

This study compared oral and rectal administration of O157-specific bacteriophages for mitigating the fecal shedding of Escherichia coli O157 by experimentally inoculated steers. Fecal shedding of nalidixic acid-resistant (Nal(R)) E. coli O157:H7 was monitored over 83 days after oral (ORL; 3.3 x 10(11) PFU), rectal (REC; 1.5 x 10(11) PFU), both oral and rectal (O+R; 4.8 x 10(11) PFU), or no (CON; control) treatment with a four-strain O157-specific bacteriophage cocktail in multiple doses. Bacteriophages were enumerated by plaque assay, and NalR E. coli O157:H7 by direct plating on sorbitol MacConkey agar supplemented with cefixime, potassium tellurite, and nalidixic acid. Orally treated steers produced the fewest Nal(R) E. coli O157:H7 culture-positive samples (P < 0.06) compared with REC and O+R steers, but this number was only nominally lower (P = 0.26) than that for the CON steers. The overall mean shedding level (log CFU per gram of feces) was higher for REC steers (P < 0.10) than for steers of the other treatment groups. Despite the shedding of higher mean bacteriophage levels (log PFU per gram of feces) by ORL and O+R than by CON and REC steers, there was no difference (P > 0.05) in the number of E. coli O157-positive samples among treatments. Bacteriophage was isolated from CON steers, indicating that these steers acquired the bacteriophage from the environment and shed the phage at a level similar to that of REC steers (P = 0.39). Continuous bacteriophage therapy may be an efficacious method for mitigating shedding of E. coli O157:H7 in cattle, providing that the host bacterium does not develop resistance. This therapy may be especially advantageous if nontreated cattle can acquire this biocontrol agent from the feedlot environment.

Effect of CLA and other C18 unsaturated fatty acids on DGAT in bovine milk fat biosynthetic systems.

Production of dairy products with increased amounts of nutraceutic FA such as conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) represents a recent approach for dairy producers and processors to increase the value of their products. The effect of CLA and other FA on the expression of diacylglycerol acyltransferase-1 (DGAT-1) and DGAT-2, and DGAT activity were investigated in bovine mammary gland epithelial (MAC-T) cells. DGAT gene expression analyses were also conducted using bovine mammary gland tissue from dairy cows. In the studies with MAC-T cells, there were no significant effects of CLA isomers or other FA on DGAT1 expression, whereas all FA tested showed enhanced DGAT2 expression (P < 0.05 to P < 0.001), with alpha-linolenic acid (alpha-18:3) having the greatest effect. Additionally, DGAT2 expression was co-ordinated with expression of lysophosphatidic acid acyltransferase (LPAAT), an observation that was also apparent in mammary gland from lactating dairy cows. In contrast, treatment of MAC-T cells with trans-10, cis-12 18:2 or alpha-18:3 resulted in a significant (P < 0.05) decrease in overall DGAT enzyme activity, although the mechanisms resulting in these effects are unclear. Competition assays using microsomes from bovine mammary gland tissue and 1-[(14)C]oleoyl-CoA suggested that DGAT activity was more selective for oleoyl (cis-9 18:1)-CoA than cis-9, trans-11 18:2-, trans-10, cis-12 18:2- or cis-9, cis-12 18:2-CoA. Collectively, the results suggest the relationship between trans-10, cis-12 18:2 and reduced TAG production in bovine milk is not linked to the production of DGAT1 or DGAT2 transcripts, but probably involves effects of this CLA isomer at events beyond transcription, such as post-translational and/or enzyme activity effects.

Impact of feed processing and mixed ruminal culture on the fate of recombinant EPSP synthase and endogenous canola plant DNA.

The impact of feed processing and in vitro ruminal cultures on the persistence of recombinant and canola-specific endogenous DNA was studied using various canola substrates (whole seed, cracked seed, meal and diet). For both, parental and genetically modified substrates, ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase gene was amplifiable up to varying time points. Persistence of recombinant DNA, encoding 5-enolpyruvylshikimate-3-phosphate synthase (1,363 bp) was detected up to 8 h for meal and 4 h for mixed diet. Upon processing of canola, DNA large enough to contain intact plant genes remains. In an in vitro environment, plant DNA was rapidly degraded upon its release into rumen fluid.