Exploring the rumen microbial community in Guizhou White goats at different ages

Abstract

This study evaluated the changes in rumen microbiome during the process of age development of farming Guizhou White goats from Southwest China. We conducted high-throughput 16S rRNA gene sequencing to investigate the diversity, structure, and composition of goat rumen microbiota (RM) of 21 goats of different age groups (1, 6, and 12 months). We found that volatile fatty acids (i.e., acetate, propionate, and butyrate) fermented by microbes were found to increase significantly in the sixand one-month-old goats. Results of the genera abundance analysis showed that abundance of eight and seven taxa decreased in six-and one-month-old goats, respectively, compared with that in 12-month-old goats. Additionally, differences in six taxa in six-month-old goats and in one taxon in one-month-old goats were found. In addition, specific gut microbiome was found, which was significantly correlated with rumen fermentation parameters in Guizhou White goats. These results revealed the signature microbiota in RM during various developmental stages in goats raised in Southwest China and can also provide a guiding tool for evaluating rumen health of ruminants worldwide.

Development of the gastrointestinal tract of newborn goats under maternal feed restriction at different stages of gestation

“…The results observed in the present study for reticulum-rumen omasum, small intestine, and total intestine confirm that the mass proportional to the fetus or the absolute mass of these compartments is more significantly affected by a nutritional insult over early and mid-gestation. During the pre-weaning stages, the rumen is not active in digesting fibers and, therefore, the utilization of the chemical components produced in the fermentation process will be assimilated as the animal ages (Zhou et al, 2022). Considering that maternal feed restriction during the first half of gestation tended to impair the growth of reticulum-rumen omasum as a function of body weight, it is likely that the resulting offspring may be less efficient in terms of nutrient digestion and absorption.…”

“…Considering that maternal feed restriction during the first half of gestation tended to impair the growth of reticulum-rumen omasum as a function of body weight, it is likely that the resulting offspring may be less efficient in terms of nutrient digestion and absorption. However, whether the digestible capacity could be altered in these offspring, through strategical starter diets (Hong and Wu et al, 2021) and changing the population of ruminal microorganisms (Zhou et al, 2022), remains to be exploited.…”