Establishment of a Spinated Type of Diplodinium rangiferi by Transfaunation of the Rumen Ciliates of Japanese Sika Deer (Cervus nippon centralist to the Rumen of Two Japanese Shorthorn Calves (Bos taurus taurus)

Abstract

One liter of rumen fluid containing 4.7 x 10(4) ciliates/ml, representing four genera including nine species of ciliates from a Japanese sika deer was inoculated into two unfaunated Japanese shorthorn calves. Two weeks after inoculation, all species originally present in the inoculum were subsequently detected in the rumen fluid of one or both calves. Ciliate densities ranged from 10(5)-10(6) cells/ml over the remainder of the 33-wk experiment. The inoculum contained Diplodinium rangiferi. which lacks caudal appendages, as is characteristic for the species. However, three weeks later, the rumen fluid of both calves contained D. rangiferi, which possesses caudal appendages varying from a single spine to multiple spines with a complicated furcate appearance. The caudal spines of D. rangiferi did not disappear during the experiment, even when the diet of the calves was switched to the ration of sika deer from which the inoculum was obtained.

Repeated inoculation of cattle rumen with bison rumen contents alters the rumen microbiome and improves nitrogen digestibility in cattle

“…Studies on the transfer of rumen contents have also proven this technique to be an effective way to colonise protozoa-free rumens with specific protozoa species 16, 22, 23 . Limited information exists on the role of rumen protozoa in fiber degradation 24, 25 , but functional protozoal glycosyl hydrolases have been identified, successfully expressed and biochemically characterized 26 .…”

“…In contrast to bacteria, protozoa have been shown to have very little host specificity 14–16 . The importance of the rumen protozoa in fibre degradation of high forage diets has been demonstrated by comparing protozoa-free sheep to faunated sheep 17, 18 .…”

First record of Diplodinium rangiferi Dogiel, 1925 (Ophryoscolecidae, Entodiniomorphida) from domestic cattle

“…Previous studies and descriptions of this species (Dogiel, 1925;Sládeček, 1946;Lubinsky, 1958;Westerling, 1970;Dehority, 1975;Kleyhens and Van Hoven, 1976;Imai et al, 1993) did not report the presence of caudal spines. The cells of D. rangiferi present in the rumen inoculum taken from sika deer for inoculation into bovine calves lacked caudal appendages (Imai et al, 2002). However, D. rangiferi with distinctive caudal appendages was encountered in the calves 2 to 3 weeks after inoculation.…”

“…This may be related to the host species, and would suggest that a much larger survey of Turkish domestic cattle is needed to answer this question. Imai et al (2002) were able to successfully establish D. rangiferi in the rumen of unfaunated calves by inoculation with sika deer rumen contents. They thus concluded that this ciliate species is not host-specific; however, that study offered an environment that lacked competition with rumen ciliates indigenous to cattle.…”

Forestomach ciliate Protozoa in Egyptian dromedary camels (Camelus dromedarius)

“…Diets would be quite different in these widely separated geographic locations. More recently, spined forms of Diplodinium rangiferi were observed in Australian red deer and in Japanese cattle which were inoculated with spineless forms of this species from sika deer Imai et al 2002).…”