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Effects of dietary rumen–protected Lys levels on rumen fermentation and bacterial community composition in Holstein heifers

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Abstract

This study aimed to evaluate the effects of partial reducing rumen-protected Lys (RPLys) on rumen fermentation and microbial composition in heifers. Three ruminal fistulated Holstein Friesian bulls were used to determine the effective degradability of RPLys using an in situ method at incubation times of 0, 2, 6, 12, 16, 24, 36, and 48 h. Thereafter, 36 Holstein heifers at 90 days of age were assigned to one of two dietary treatments: a theoretically balanced amino acid diet (PC group; 1.21% Lys, 0.4% Met) or a 30% Lys-reduced diet (PCLys group, 0.85% Lys, 0.4% Met). Rumen fluid samples from five heifers in each group were extracted using esophageal tubing on day 90 to determine pH, microprotein, ammonia, volatile fatty acids, and microbial communities. Results showed that the effective ruminal degradability was 25.76%. Furthermore, differences in rumen fermentation parameters and alpha diversity of the microbiota between the two groups were not significant, but beta diversity was significant. Based upon relative abundance analysis, short-chain fatty acid–producing bacteria, including Sharpea, Syntrophococcus, [Ruminococcus]_gauvreauii_group, Acetitomaculum, and [Eubacterium]_nadotum_group belonging to Firmicutes, were significantly decreased in the PCLys group. Spearman’s analysis revealed a positive correlation between the butyrate molar proportion and the relative abundance of butyrate-producing bacteria such as [Eubacterium]_nadotum_group, Coprococcus_1, Ruminococcaceae_UCG_013, Pseudoramibacter, and Lachnospiraceae_UCG_010. Phylogenetic Investigation of Communities by Reconstruction of Unobserved States analysis further validated that RPLys deduction influenced energy metabolism. Together, our findings highlight the role of RPLys or Lys in butyrate-producing bacteria. However, the number of bacteria affected by Lys was very limited and insufficient to alter rumen fermentation.

Key Points

• Reducing 30% Lys via rumen-protected Lys did not affect rumen fermentation parameters and alpha diversity of microbiota of Holstein heifers. It meant that the ruminal fermentation pattern was not changed.

• Reducing 30% Lys via rumen-protected lysine significantly decreased relative abundance of short-chain fatty acid–producing bacteria belonging to Firmicutes.

• Functions of microorganisms were changed by reducing 30% Lys via rumen-protected Lys, especially amino acid metabolism. It may affect the amino acid composition of microprotein.

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Data Availability

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

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Funding

This work was supported, in part, by the Earmarked Fund for Beijing Dairy Industry Innovation Consortium of Agriculture Research System (BAIC06), Chinese Academy of Agricultural Science and Technology Innovation Project (CAAS-XTCX-2016011-01), Fundamental Research Funds for Central Non-profit Scientific Institution (Y2019CG08), Agricultural Science and Technology Innovation Program (CAAS-ASTIP-2017-FRI-04), Science and Technology Open Cooperation Project of Henan Province (182106000035)-Study on the Pattern of Diet Amino Acid for Different Physiological Stages of Heifers, and Key Research and Development Program of Hebei Province (19226621D).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Feed Biotechnology of the Ministry of Agriculture, Sino-US Joint Lab on Nutrition and Metabolism of Ruminants, Feed Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, 100081, China

    Fanlin Kong, Qiyu Diao, Yanliang Bi & Yan Tu

  2. College of Animal Science and Technology, Hebei Agricultural University, Baoding, 071001, China

    Yanxia Gao

  3. College of Animal Science and Veterinary Medicine, Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou, 450002, China

    Mengqi Tang & Tong Fu

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  1. Fanlin Kong
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  2. Yanxia Gao
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  3. Mengqi Tang
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  4. Tong Fu
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  5. Qiyu Diao
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  6. Yanliang Bi
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  7. Yan Tu
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Contributions

Fanlin Kong and Mengqi Tang carried out both experiments and then did the sampling and laboratory works. Yanliang Bi drafted the manuscript and critically reviewed the manuscript. Yanxia Gao provided the materials needed in in situ experiment and conceived the study. Tong Fu provided the materials needed in experiment 2 and conceived the study. Yan Tu and Qiyu Diao designed and approved the study plan. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Yanliang Bi or Yan Tu.

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Experimental procedures were approved by the Animal Ethics Committee of the Chinese academy of agricultural sciences (committee permit number: FRI-CAAS20180110), and humane animal care and handling procedures were followed throughout the experiment.

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Kong, F., Gao, Y., Tang, M. et al. Effects of dietary rumen–protected Lys levels on rumen fermentation and bacterial community composition in Holstein heifers. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 104, 6623–6634 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00253-020-10684-y

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