Ruminant livestock are important sources of human food and global greenhouse gas emissions. Feed degradation and methane formation by ruminants rely on metabolic interactions between rumen microbes and affect ruminant productivity. Rumen and camelid foregut microbial community composition was determined in 742 samples from 32 animal species and 35 countries, to estimate if this was influenced by diet, host species, or geography. Similar bacteria and archaea dominated in nearly all samples, while protozoal communities were more variable. The dominant bacteria are poorly characterised, but the methanogenic archaea are better known and highly conserved across the world. This universality and limited diversity could make it possible to mitigate methane emissions by developing strategies that target the few dominant methanogens. Differences in microbial community compositions were predominantly attributable to diet, with the host being less influential. There were few strong co-occurrence patterns between microbes, suggesting that major metabolic interactions are non-selective rather than specific.

We report the effective methods to induce weak ferromagnetism in pristine MoS2 persisting up to room temperature with the improved transport property, which would lead to new spintronics devices. The hydrogenation of MoS2 by heating at 300 °C for 1 h leads to the easy axis out of plane, while the irradiation of proton with a dose of 1 × 10(13) P/cm(2) leads to the easy axis in plane. The theoretical modeling supports such magnetic easy axes.

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The objective of the study was to determine whether feeding a diet supplemented with 3-nitrooxypropanol (3-NOP) affects feeding behavior altering intake and rumen fermentation. Two experiments were conducted with 9 rumen-cannulated beef steers in a replicated 3 × 3 Latin square design where animals received a high-forage or high-grain diet. Treatments were 1) a basal diet (CON), the CON diet supplemented with 3-NOP (dNOP; 100 mg/kg in dietary DM or 1 g/d), or the CON diet with 3-NOP (1 g/d) infused into the rumen (infNOP). Each experimental period consisted of 14-d diet adaptation and 7-d sample collection. A 7-d washout period was provided between experiment periods. All data were analyzed as a Latin square design using Mixed Procedure of SAS. In Exp. 1 (high-forage diet), methane yield (measured by the Greenfeed system) was lowered by 18% (18.6 vs. 22.7 g/kg DMI; P < 0.01) by dNOP compared with CON. Rumen fermentation was altered similarly by both NOP treatments compared with CON where dNOP and infNOP increased (P < 0.01) rumen pH at 3 h and decreased (P < 0.01) proportion of acetate in total VFA. However, DMI, feed consumption rate (0 to 3, 3 to 6, 6 to 12, and 12 to 24 h after feeding), particle size distribution of orts, and feeding behavior (videotaped for individual animals over 48 h) were not affected by dNOP and infNOP compared with CON. In Exp. 2 (high-grain diet), methane production was not affected by dNOP or infNOP compared with CON. Dry matter intake, feed consumption rate, particle size distribution of orts, and feeding behavior were not altered by dNOP and infNOP compared with CON. However, both dNOP and infNOP affected rumen fermentation where total VFA decreased (P = 0.04) and acetate proportion in total VFA tended to decrease (P = 0.07) compared with CON. In conclusion, dietary supplementation of 3-NOP did not affect feeding behavior of beef steers fed a high-forage or high-grain diet. However, rumen fermentation was similarly changed when 3-NOP was provided in the diet or directly infused in the rumen. Thus, observed changes in rumen fermentation with 3-NOP were not due to changes in feeding behavior indicating no effects on the organoleptic property of the diets. In addition, according to small or no changes in DMI in both experiments and relatively small changes in rumen fermentation in Exp. 2, a greater dosage level of 3-NOP than 100 mg/kg (dietary DM) may need further examination of its effects on feeding behavior of beef cattle.

The effects of Lactobacillus mucosae (L. mucosae), a potential direct fed microbial previously isolated from the rumen of Korean native goat, on the rumen fermentation profile of brewers grain were evaluated. Fermentation was conducted in serum bottles each containing 1% dry matter (DM) of the test substrate and either no L. mucosae (control), 1% 24 h broth culture of L. mucosae (T1), or 1% inoculation with the cell-free culture supernatant (T2). Each serum bottle was filled anaerobically with 100 mL of buffered rumen fluid and sealed prior to incubation for 0, 6, 12, 24, and 48 h from which fermentation parameters were monitored and the microbial diversity was evaluated. The results revealed that T1 had higher total gas production (65.00 mL) than the control (61.33 mL) and T2 (62.00 mL) (p<0.05) at 48 h. Consequently, T1 had significantly lower pH values (p<0.05) than the other groups at 48 h. Ammonia nitrogen (NH3-N), individual and total volatile fatty acids (VFA) concentration and acetate:propionate ratio were higher in T1 and T2 than the control, but T1 and T2 were comparable for these parameters. Total methane (CH4) production and carbon dioxide (CO2) were highest in T1. The percent DM and organic matter digestibilities were comparable between all groups at all times of incubation. The total bacterial population was significantly higher in T1 (p<0.05) at 24 h, but then decreased to levels comparable to the control and T2 at 48 h. The denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis profile of the total bacterial 16s rRNA showed higher similarity between T1 and T2 at 24 h and between the control and T1 at 48 h. Overall, these results suggest that addition of L. mucosae and cell-free supernatant during the in vitro fermentation of dried brewers grain increases the VFA production, but has no effect on digestibility. The addition of L. mucosae can also increase the total bacterial population, but has no significant effect on the total microbial diversity. However, inoculation of the bacterium may increase CH4 and CO2 in vitro.