Ruminant Nutrition Strategies to Improve Feed Efficiency and Reduce Methane Emissions

A special issue of Life (ISSN 2075-1729). This special issue belongs to the section "Animal Science".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 April 2024) | Viewed by 1374

Special Issue Editors

Institute of Animal Science, Guangdong Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Guangzhou, China
Interests: ruminant nutrition; reduce methane emissions

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Guest Editor
Institute of Feed Research, Xinjiang Academy of Animal Science, Urumchi, China
Interests: ruminant nutrition; utilization of unconventional feed

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Guest Editor
College of Animal Science, Guizhou University, Guiyang, China
Interests: animal nutrition; natural feed additive; nutritional value assessment of feed

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

With the increasing shortage of food and feed materials, how to use less feed materials to produce more and better livestock products and ensure food security is a problem we need to solve. In the process of ruminant production, the development and utilization of unconventional feed materials such as straw, fruit residue, etc., and the rational use of non-protein nitrogen (urea) are important strategies to alleviate the shortage of feed materials. In addition, researchers are trying to use various ways of nutritional regulation to improve the feed utilization efficiency of ruminants so as to produce more and better quality beef, mutton, and dairy products.

In addition to improving feed efficiency, how to reduce methane emissions from ruminants to help mitigate global warming is an increasingly hot topic. It is possible to use nutritional regulation to reduce methane emissions in ruminants without negatively affecting production performance.

Overall, the aim of this Special Issue is to present an as-broad-as-possible range of innovations in the field of ruminant nutrition in regard to energy conservation and emission reduction. We encourage the submission of manuscripts covering topics from basic research to the application of new feed material or new feed additives.

Dr. Li Min
Dr. Tongjun Guo
Dr. Xingzhou Tian
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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Keywords

  • ruminant nutrition
  • roughage utilization
  • unconventional feed materials
  • feed efficiency
  • production performance
  • methane emissions
  • feed additive

Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

16 pages, 7077 KiB  
Article
Integrated Multi-Omics Reveals New Ruminal Microbial Features Associated with Peanut Vine Efficiency in Dairy Cattle
by Zhanwei Teng, Ningning Zhang, Lijie Zhang, Liyang Zhang, Shenhe Liu, Tong Fu, Qinghua Wang and Tengyun Gao
Life 2024, 14(7), 802; https://doi.org/10.3390/life14070802 - 26 Jun 2024
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Abstract
The aim of this study was to improve the utilization of peanut vines as forage material for ruminants by investigating the degradation pattern of peanut vines in the dairy cow rumen. Samples of peanut vine incubated in cow rumens were collected at various [...] Read more.
The aim of this study was to improve the utilization of peanut vines as forage material for ruminants by investigating the degradation pattern of peanut vines in the dairy cow rumen. Samples of peanut vine incubated in cow rumens were collected at various time points. Bacterial diversity was investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and 16S rRNA gene sequencing. Carbohydrate-active enzymes (CAZymes) were analyzed by metagenomics. The peanut vines degraded rapidly from 2 to 24 h, before slowing from 24 to 72 h. SEM images confirmed dynamic peanut vine colonization. Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes were the two most dominant bacterial phyla throughout. Principal coordinates analysis indicated significant microbial composition changes at 6 and 24 h. This may be because, in the early stage, soluble carbohydrates that are easily degradable were degraded, while in the later stage, fibrous substances that are difficult to degrade were mainly degraded. Glycoside hydrolases (GHs) were the most abundant CAZymes, with peak relative abundance at 6 h (56.7 trans per million, TPM), and reducing at 24 (55.9 TPM) and 72 h (55.3 TPM). Spearman correlation analysis showed that Alistipes_sp._CAG:435, Alistipes_sp._CAG:514, Bacteroides_sp._CAG:1060, Bacteroides_sp._CAG:545, Bacteroides_sp._CAG:709, Bacteroides_sp._CAG:770, bacterium_F082, bacterium_F083, GH29, GH78, and GH92 were important for plant fiber degradation. These findings provide fundamental knowledge about forage degradation in the cow rumen, and will be important for the targeted improvement of ruminant plant biomass utilization efficiency. Full article
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