Microbial biodiversity analysis and utilization of branched chain volatile fatty acids by rumen bacteria

• Grant number: 19/19645-8
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Post-doctor
• Start date: December 20, 2019
• End date: December 19, 2020
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Animal Husbandry - Animal Nutrition and Feeding
• Principal Investigator: Mário de Beni Arrigoni
• Grantee: Pablo de Souza Castagnino
• Supervisor: Jeffrey L. Firkins
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Medicina Veterinária e Zootecnia (FMVZ). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Botucatu. Botucatu , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: Ohio State University, Columbus, United States
• Associated to the scholarship: 18/09731-1 - Quantification of microbial populations and ruminanl fermentation of Nellore cattle fed with different levels of wet corn distillers grains, BP.PD

Abstract

The rumen microbial population includes bacteria, ciliate protozoa, archaea, and fungi. A group of potential growth promotors are formed by degradation of branched chain amino acids (BCAA) by proteolytic bacteria and protozoa. The BCAA can be transported and preferentially incorporated into protein or are deaminated and decarboxylated to branch chain volatile fatty acid (BCVFA). The effect on microbial community profile of rumen microbes has not been reported with BCVFA supplementation. The objective of this experiment will be to evaluate the effect of BCVFA supplementation on microbial community profile of rumen microbes using Illumina MiSeq and utilization of BCVFA by rumen bacteria. The continuous cultures will be randomly assigned to a treatment with either BCVFA supplementation or no additional BCVFA and high forage: concentrate diet (70:30) or low forage: concentrate diet (30:70). The primers of bacteria from the Pos-doctoral project "Quantification of microbial populations and ruminal fermentation of Nellore cattle fed with different levels of wet corn distillers grains-FAPESP 18/09731-1) will be used to evaluate effect of BCVFA and different dietary conditions on fibrolytic and amylolytic microbes. Data will be analyzed in a randomized incomplete block design with a 2 × 2 factorial arrangement using the MIXED procedure of SAS (SAS Inst., Inc., Cary, NC). (AU)