Calcium Propionate Supplementation Has Minor Effects on Major Ruminal Bacterial Community Composition of Early Lactation Dairy Cows

Abstract

Calcium propionate is one kind of good source for preventing and treating hypocalcemia and ketosis for dairy cows in early lactation. However, little is known about the effects of different feeding levels of calcium propionate on the ruminal bacterial community of early lactation dairy cows. This study aimed to explore the effects of different calcium propionate feeding levels on the ruminal fermentation and bacterial community composition of early lactation dairy cows. Twenty-four multiparous cows were randomly allocated into control (CON), low calcium propionate (LCaP), medium calcium propionate (MCaP), and high calcium propionate (HCaP) groups with six cows per group after calving. The CON group cows were fed the normal total mixed ration (TMR), and the cows of the LCaP, MCaP, and HCaP groups were fed TMR supplemented with 200, 350, and 500 g/day calcium propionate for 35 days after calving, respectively. The rumen fermentation parameters were measured every week, and the ruminal bacterial community composition of the last week was analyzed by 16S rRNA gene sequencing. Under the same diet, the rumen pH showed no difference among the four groups, but the content of microbial crude protein (MCP) and ammonia nitrogen quadratically decreased and linearly increased with calcium propionate supplementation, respectively. The feeding of calcium propionate linearly increased the concentrations of total volatile fatty acid (VFA), acetate, propionate, butyrate, iso-valerate, and valerate in the rumen. In all the treatment groups, Bacteroidetes, Firmicutes, and Proteobacteria were the dominant phyla, and Prevotella_1 and Succiniclasticum were the dominant genera in the rumen. Compared with the CON group, the addition of calcium propionate to the early lactation dairy cows quadratically improved the alpha diversity index of Chao1 estimator and observed species, but had little effect on the relative abundance of the major bacterial at phyla and genera level. These results suggested different levels of calcium propionate supplementation improved the rumen fermentation and the ruminal bacterial diversity but had little impact on the major ruminal bacterial community composition of dairy cows in early lactation.

Dietary Supplementation of Fruit from Nitraria tangutorum Improved Immunity and Abundance of Beneficial Ruminal Bacteria in Hu Sheep

“…In the current study, Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes were the two most abundant bacterial phyla in the rumen, which is consistent with other studies on ruminants [ 40 , 65 , 66 , 67 ]. The relative abundance of Bacteroidetes, which is important in the degradation of polysaccharides such as cellulose, hemicellulose, and pectin [ 68 , 69 ], increased with the addition of FNT to the diet.…”

Effects of supplementation of sodium acetate on rumen fermentation and microbiota in postpartum dairy cows

“…In this experiment, the rumen was sampled in the morning before feeding, when rumen VFAs concentrations and molar ratios were in equilibrium. In addition, the addition of NAc did not alter the molar ratio of VFAs in the rumen, which may be related to the increased absorption capacity of the rumen epithelium ( Zhang et al, 2022 ). Acetate is the primary substrate for the ab initio synthesis of milk fat in cows and is the main VFA produced by the rumen, which provides 45% of the energy generated by VFA metabolism ( Baldwin and Smith, 1971 ; Bergman, 1990 ).…”

“…The fermentation profile of rumen fluid pH, NH 3 -N, MCP and VFA concentrations reflects the function and stability of the internal rumen environment ( Zhang et al, 2022 ). Rumen pH is influenced by the composition of the diet and can reflect rumen fermentation and health ( Wang et al, 2020 ).…”

“…In this trial, NAc supplementation increased the concentration of rumen TVFA. More TVFA production was able to stimulate an expansion of the rumen absorption area while improving VFA absorption, which was beneficial in alleviating NEB in cows in the post-peripartum period ( Melo et al, 2013 ; Schären et al, 2016 ; Dieho et al, 2017 ; Zhang et al, 2022 ). Moreover, in the NAc supplemented group, the concentrations of acetic, propionic, isobutyric and isovaleric acids were increasing, and there was a trend towards increasing concentrations of butyric and valeric acids.…”

“…Ruminal pH was immediately with a mettler-toledo pH meter (Model FE20, Shanghai, China). The NH 3 -N, VFA and MCP concentrations were determined using the methods of previous studies ( Zhang et al, 2022 ). The rumen content samples were kept in liquid nitrogen to quickly cool down and then stored at −80°C for later microbiome analysis ( Tables 2 , 3 ).…”