Altered mucosa-associated microbiota in the ileum and colon of neonatal calves in response to delayed first colostrum feeding

Abstract

The present study investigated whether delaying the first feeding of colostrum affected ileum and colon mucosa-associated microbiota in calves. Twenty-seven male Holstein calves were randomly assigned to 1 of 3 groups, fed colostrum at 45 min, 6 h, and 12 h after birth, respectively. Ileum and colon mucosa were collected at 51 h after birth, and their associated microbial profiles were assessed using amplicon sequencing. Both ileum and colon mucosa-associated microbiota were predominated by genus Escherichia-Shigella. The negative correlation between the molar proportion of shortchain fatty acids (SCFA) and ileum mucosa-associated opportunistic pathogens, and the positive correlation between the molar proportion of SCFA and colon mucosa-associated beneficial bacteria, suggest that SCFA might play an important role in maintaining the gut health of 2-d-old calves. A higher relative abundance of ileum mucosa-associated Enterococcus and Streptococcus was detected when the first colostrum feeding was delayed for 12 h. The relative abundance of colon mucosa-associated Lactobacillus tended to be lower in calves fed colostrum 12 h than those under the other 2 treatments, whereas that of Faecalibacterium tended to be lower in calves fed colostrum immediately after birth than those fed colostrum 6 and 12 h after birth, respectively. Our findings suggest that delayed first colostrum feeding affects the establishment of ileum and colon mucosa-associated bacteria, which may have long-term effects on gut health of calves.

Supplement Based on Fermented Milk Permeate for Feeding Newborn Calves: Influence on Blood, Growth Performance, and Faecal Parameters, including Microbiota, Volatile Compounds, and Fatty and Organic Acid Profiles

“…It is known that R. torques may affect intestinal health and contribute to the observed disruption of intestinal barrier functions [ 41 ]. There is little or no information regarding the roles of B. wexlerae and Tyzzerella in calves, whereas Butyricicoccus is known to have a positive influence on the health status of calves [ 45 ].…”

Short communication: Colostrum versus formula: Effects on mRNA expression of genes related to branched-chain amino acid metabolism in neonatal dairy calves

“…bacteria (Malmuthuge et al, 2015;Ma et al, 2019), improving glucose status by enhanced intestinal glucose absorption due to the advanced development of the intestinal epithelia (Steinhoff-Wagner et al, 2011;Steinhoff-Wagner et al, 2014;Gruse et al, 2015), and reducing the susceptibility to diarrhea and pneumonia (Kargar et al, 2020). The colostrum feeding also affects the circulating amino acid concentrations, as previously shown for neonatal calves (Hammon and Blum, 1999;Sadri et al, 2017).…”

Effects of colostrum management on transfer of passive immunity and the potential role of colostral bioactive components on neonatal calf development and metabolism

“…Specifically, promoting the growth and development of the intestinal microbiota is one of the most well-established roles of human milk OS in newborn infants (Zivkovic et al, 2011). In contrast, the potential role of bovine colostrum in promoting the initial establishment and subsequent development of the calf intestinal microbiome has only recently been characterized (Malmuthuge et al, 2015;Fischer et al, 2018b;Ma et al, 2019;Song et al, 2019). Importantly, moderate correlations have been observed between colostrum OS and the beneficial bacteria, Bifidobacterium, in the small intestine of calves within the first 12 h of life, suggesting that bovine colostrum OS may be important in establishment of the calf intestinal microbiome (Fischer et al, 2018a).…”