I .To investigate the effects of sulphur intake on molybdenum metabolism in sheep, ewes were given intakes of 0.3 or 3 3 mg Mo and G98, 1.33, 1.73 or 3.23 g S/d in a 2 x 4 factorial experiment with two replicates lasting 35 d. ggMo with 0.1 mg carrier M o was infused intravenously for the last 14 d and, when 8 g M~ concentrations in urine and faeces had attained plateaux (days I 1-14), stable Mo and 8oMo balance trials were conducted; samples of blood and rumen contents were taken principally for studies of Mo distribution.2. Increases in S intake caused the following changes in Mo metabolism; absorption decreased, urinary and faecal endogenous excretion decreased and retention increased; Mo concentrations in rumen contents decreased but the predominant association with the solid phase was unaffected; Mo concentrations in plasma decreased, but a higher proportion was associated with the protein fraction; Mo in protein-free plasma became apparently less ultrafiltrable at the glomerulus.
3.The pattern of response to S for each factor was generally curvilinear, the first increment in S intake having by far the greatest effect. The effect of S was generally greatest at the higher Mo intake.4. It is suggested that the manifold effects of S on M o metabolism are related to a common interaction in the rumen leading to the formation of Mo-complexes, possibly thiomolybdates, which are poorly absorbed but even more poorly excreted.Interest in the molybdenum metabolism of ruminants has centred on its role in interrelationships with copper and sulphur (Underwood, 1971) [. 1978) may alter the perspective. In one experiment with calves it was found that the absorbability of Mo was reduced during its passage through the rumen and that the primary site of absorption was the small intestine (Miller et al. 1972). Mo metabolism in sheep can, however, be markedly affected by changes in dietary composition (Bell 1966), notably in the S constituent (Dick, 1956). Dick (1956) concluded from a series of experiments that an increase in sulphate intake invariably reduced the retention of Mo but the specific contributions of changes in absorption and excretion to the interaction were not distinguished. The object of this paper is, therefore, to report the changes in Mo metabolism which occur when S intake is varied for sheep at the relatively low Mo intakes commonly encountered under grazing conditions (cf. Whitehead, 1966;Miltimore & Mason, 1971): a preliminary report of this work has been published elsewhere .
M A T E R I A L S A N D M E T H O D SExperimental design. Sixteen Scottish Blackface ewes, weighing 45-55 kg and equipped with rumen fistulas, were allocated at random in block design to a 2 x 4 factorial experiment with two replicates. Two intakes of Mo (0.3 and 3.5 mg/d) and four intakes of S (0.98, Balance technique, Steps were taken to ensure that conditions in the rumen and in the whole animal were close to a state of equilibrium. The daily allowance of semi-purified diet (750 g dry matter (DM); Suttle & Field, 1968) was di...