Rumen bacterial diversity of Nellore steers in pasture, supplements with two protein sources in the dry period

• Grant number: 18/22294-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: February 01, 2019
• End date: November 30, 2020
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Animal Husbandry - Animal Nutrition and Feeding
• Principal Investigator: Telma Teresinha Berchielli
• Grantee: Elisabeth Victória Machado Alves
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Ciências Agrárias e Veterinárias (FCAV). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Jaboticabal. Jaboticabal , SP, Brazil

Abstract

An important strategy to address the nutritional deficiencies of forage during the dry season for animals in the rearing phase is to supplement them with protein sources, since this nutrient is scarce in tropical forages in this period. The objective of this study was to characterize the bacterial diversity of Nellore steers supplemented with rumen non-degradable protein (corn gluten) or degradable rumen (urea) protein in pasture during the dry season. Eight castrated Nellore steers, cannulated in the rumen and duodenum, arranged in four Latin squares (2x2, 2 treatments and 2 periods) will be used simultaneously. One animal will be kept on each experimental picket. The experiment will consist of two treatments, during 28 days (2 periods of 14 days), with T1 (PDR): grazing animals will receive urea and common mineral salt; T2 (PNDR): animals will be supplemented with 0.3% of live weight with corn gluten 60 and common mineral salt. The collections for bacterial diversity of the ruminal environment will be performed, prior to the supplementation of the animals, through the ruminal cannula. DNA extraction will be performed using 200 mg of pellet obtained from the Quick-DNA Extraction Kit "Fecal / Soil Microbe Miniprep Kit recommended by Henderson et al. (2013). The sequencing of the V4 / V5 region of the bacterial 16S rRNA gene, The results will be analyzed in a square (2x2) Latin square delineation, with four replicates, with a maximum of two replicates, with a maximum of two replicates. The model for statistical analysis will include the fixed effect of treatment, and as random effects the effect of the animal, and period.