Pantothenic acid supplementation to support rumen microbes?

Effects of live yeast on differential genetic and functional attributes of rumen microbiota in beef cattle

Several studies have evaluated the effects of live yeast supplementation on rumen microbial population; however, its effect on differential microbial genes and their functional potential has not been described. Thus, this study applied shotgun metagenomic sequencing to evaluate the effects of live yeast supplementation on genetic and functional potential of the rumen microbiota in beef cattle. Eight rumen-cannulated Holstein steers were randomly assigned to two treatments in a cross-over design with two 25-day experimental periods and a 10-day wash-out between the two periods. The steers were housed in individual pens and fed 50% concentrate-mix and 50% red clover/orchard hay ad libitum. Treatments were (1) control (CON; basal diet without additive) and (2) yeast (YEA; basal diet plus 15 g/d of live yeast product). Rumen fluid samples were collected at 3, 6, and 9 h after feeding on the last d of each period. Sequencing was done on an Illumina HiSeq 2500 platform. Dietary yeast supplementation increased the relative abundance of carbohydrate-fermenting bacteria (such as Ruminococcus albus, R. champanellensis, R. bromii, and R. obeum) and lactate-utilizing bacteria (such as Megasphaera elsdenii, Desulfovibrio desulfuricans, and D. vulgaris). A total of 154 differentially abundant genes (DEGs) were obtained (false discovery rate < 0.01). Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) annotation analysis of the DEGs revealed that 10 pathways, including amino sugar and nucleotide sugar metabolism, oxidative phosphorylation, lipopolysaccharide biosynthesis, pantothenate and coenzyme A biosynthesis, glutathione metabolism, beta-alanine metabolism, polyketide sugar unit biosynthesis, protein export, ribosome, and bacterial secretory system, were enriched in steers fed YEA. Annotation analysis of the DEGs in the carbohydrate-active enzymes (CAZy) database revealed that the abundance of genes coding for enzymes belonging to glycoside hydrolases, glycosyltransferases, and carbohydrate binding modules were enriched in steers fed YEA. These results confirm the effectiveness of a live S. cerevisiae product for improving rumen function in beef steers by increasing the abundance of cellulolytic bacteria, lactic acid-utilizing bacteria, and carbohydrate-active enzymes in the rumen.

Effects of rumen-protected pantothenate supplementation on lactation performance, ruminal fermentation, nutrient digestion and blood metabolites in dairy cows

BACKGROUND

Lactation performance of dairy cow has considerably increased with animal breeding and management improvement in recent years. Ruminal net synthesised pantothenic acid is insufficient to meet the requirement of high producing dairy cows. The objective was to investigate the effects of rumen-protected pantothenate (RPP) on lactation performance, ruminal fermentation, nutrient digestion and blood metabolites in dairy cows.

RESULTS

Dry matter (DM) intake tended to increase, whereas milk yields, milk fat percentage and yield, body condition score (BCS) changes and net energy output except for maintenance increased linearly with increasing RPP supplementation. Ruminal pH and ammonia N concentration tended to decrease, total VFA tended to increase, while acetate-to-propionate ratio increased linearly with increasing RPP supplementation. Digestibilities of DM, organic matter and crude protein increased linearly, but neutral detergent fibre and acid detergent fibre digestibility tended to increase. Blood glucose, total protein, non-esterified fatty acids, pantothenic acid, pantothenate kinase, succinyl CoA, acyl carrier protein and acetyl CoA also increased linearly with increasing RPP supplementation.

CONCLUSION

The results indicated that supplementary RPP improved lactation performance, nutrient digestion and blood parameters in a dose-dependent manner, and the optimal dose was 12 g RPP per cow per day in the current study. © 2017 Society of Chemical Industry.

Dietary pantothenic acid deficiency and excess depress the growth, intestinal mucosal immune and physical functions by regulating NF-κB, TOR, Nrf2 and MLCK signaling pathways in grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idella)

This study investigated the effects of dietary pantothenic acid (PA) on the growth, intestinal mucosal immune and physical barrier, and relative mRNA levels of signaling molecules in the intestine of grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idella). A total of 540 grass carp (253.44 ± 0.69 g) were fed six diets with graded levels of PA (PA1, PA15, PA30, PA45, PA60 and PA75 diets) for 8 weeks. The results indicated that compared with PA deficiency (PA1 diet) and excess (PA75 diet) groups, optimal PA supplementation increased (P < 0.05): (1) percent weight gain (PWG), feed intake and feed efficiency; (2) lysozyme activity, complement 3 content, liver-expressed antimicrobial peptide 2 and hepcidin, interleukin 10, transforming growth factor β1 and inhibitor of κBα mRNA levels in some intestinal segments; (3) activities and mRNA levels of copper/zinc superoxide dismutase, manganese superoxide dismutase, catalase, glutathione peroxidase, glutathione S-transferases and glutathione reductase, and NF-E2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) mRNA level in the whole intestine; (4) Claudin b, Claudin 3, Claudin c, Occludin and ZO-1 mRNA levels in some intestinal segments of grass carp. Conversely, optimal PA supplementation decreased (P < 0.05): (1) tumor necrosis factor α, interleukin 1β, interferon γ2, interleukin 8, nuclear factor κB P65 (NF-κB P65), IκB kinase α, IκB kinase β, IκB kinase γ and target of rapamycin (TOR) mRNA expression levels in some intestinal segments; (2) reactive oxygen species, malondialdehyde and protein carbonyl contents, and Kelch-like ECH-associating protein 1a, Kelch-like ECH-associating protein 1b in the intestine; (3) Claudin 12, Claudin 15a and myosin light-chain kinase (MLCK) mRNA levels in some intestinal segments of grass carp. In conclusion, optimum PA promoted growth, intestinal mucosal immune and physical function, as well as regulated mRNA levels of signaling molecules NF-κB P65, TOR, Nrf2 and MLCK in grass carp intestine. Based on the quadratic regression analysis of PWG and intestinal lysozyme activity, the optimal PA levels in grass carp (253.44-745.25 g) were estimated to be 37.73 mg/kg and 41.38 mg/kg diet, respectively.