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ARS Home » Plains Area » Clay Center, Nebraska » U.S. Meat Animal Research Center » Meat Safety and Quality » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #291234
Title: Investigation of microbial diversity in the feces of cattle fed different diets

Author
item Kim, Min
item KIM, JAEHYOUNG - University Of Nebraska
item Kuehn, Larry
item Bono, James - Jim
item Berry, Elaine
item Kalchayanand, Norasak - Nor
item Freetly, Harvey
item BENSON, A - University Of Nebraska
item Wells, James - Jim

Submitted to: Journal of Animal Science Supplement
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 5/1/2013
Publication Date: 7/1/2013
Citation: Kim, M.S., Kim, J., Kuehn, L.A., Bono, J.L., Berry, E.D., Kalchayanand, N., Freetly, H.C., Benson, A.K., Wells, J. 2013. Investigation of microbial diversity in the feces of cattle fed different diets.[abstract] Journal of Animal Science Supplement. 91 (E-Supplement 2): 235.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Understanding of the bovine fecal microbiome could contribute to solving issues regarding animal production, cattle health and food safety. The objective of this study was to examine the influence of diet on the fecal microbiome in feedlot cattle. The next-generation pyrosequencing technology was used to investigate fecal microbiomes of 426 cattle fed one of three diets: finishing diet (83% dry-rolled corn, 13% corn silage, 4% supplement), late growing diet (66% dry-rolled corn, 26% corn silage, 8% supplement), and early growing diet (70% corn silage and 30% alfalfa haylage). Cattle with less than 2,000 sequence reads were excluded from analysis of the fecal microbiome, resulting in a total of 2,149,008 16S rRNA gene sequences from 333 of the 426 cattle. Firmicutes was the first predominant phylum and accounted for more than 50% of total sequences in all three diet groups. Bacteroidetes was the second predominant phylum in the finishing and the late growing diet groups, while TM7 was the second predominant phylum in the early growing diet group. The genera Faecalibacterium, Anaerovibrio, Prevotella, Parabacteroides and Pantoea were significantly more abundant (P < 0.0001) in the late growing diet group than in other two groups, while the genera Oscillibacter, Turicibacter, Coprococcus, Clostridium, Blautia, Lactobacillus and Subdoligranulum were significantly more abundant (P < 0.0001) in the finishing diet group than other two groups. The abundance of the genera Sporacetigenium, Anaerovorax, Propionibacterium and Akkermansia was significantly higher (P < 0.0001) in the early growing diet than other two diet groups. The 2,149,008 16S rRNA gene sequences were clustered to 176,692 OTUs in combination across all the 333 cattle, but only 2,359 OTUs were shared across the three diet groups. A principal coordinates analysis of the unweighted UniFrac showed that bovine fecal microbiomes were separated based on diets. The present study indicates that diet has an effect on the fecal microbiome of cattle, particularly between cattle fed forage-rich and grain-rich diets.