Rumen bacterial community profile and fermentation in Barki sheep fed olive cake and date palm byproducts

Abstract

Rumen bacteria make the greatest contribution to rumen fermentation that enables the host animal to utilize the ingested feeds. Agro-industrial byproducts (AIP) such as olive cake (OC) and date palm byproducts (discarded dates (DD), and date palm fronds (DPF)) represent a practical solution to the deficiency in common feed resources. In this study, thirty-six growing Barki lambs were divided into three groups to evaluate the effect of untraditional diets including the AIP on the growth performance. Subsequently, nine adult Barki rams were used to evaluate the effect of experimental diets on rumen fermentation and rumen bacteria. Three rations were used: common concentrate mixture (S1), common untraditional concentrate mixture including OC and DD (S2), and the same concentrate mixture in S2 supplemented with roughage as DPF enriched with 15% molasses (S3). The animals in S2 group showed higher dry matter intake (DMI) and lower relative growth rate (RGR) as compared to the animals in S1 group. However, the animals in S3 group were the lowest in DMI but achieved RGR by about 87.6% of that in the S1 group. Rumen pH, acetic and butyric acids were more prevalent in animals of S3 group and rumen ammonia (NH3-N), total volatile fatty acids (TVFA), propionic acid were higher in S1. Rumen enzymes activities were higher in S1 group followed by S3 and S2. The bacterial population was more prevalent in S1 and microbial diversity was higher in the S3 group. Principal coordinate analysis revealed clusters associated with diet type and the relative abundance of bacteria varied between sheep groups. The bacterial community was dominated by phylum Bacteroidetes and Firmicutes; whereas, Prevotella, Ruminococcus, and Butyrivibrio were the dominant genera. Results indicate that diet S3 supplemented by OC, DD, and DPF could replace the conventional feed mixture.

Fibrolytic rumen bacteria of camel and sheep and their applications in the bioconversion of barley straw to soluble sugars for biofuel production

“…The findings of this study showed that the proportions of solidattached Ruminococcaceae and RC9_gut_group are higher in this study than their proportions in camel and sheep in previous studies [8,68] as well as cow [57], buffalo [69], and deer [62]. Furthermore, the relative abundance of Prevotella was lower than in other ruminant animals [8,57,62,68,69]. More details about the comparison between this study and previous studies could be found in Supplementary figure (S1 Fig).…”

“…Animal species and the chemical composition of animal diet are the main determiners of the rumen microbiome [54]. The findings of this study showed that the proportions of solidattached Ruminococcaceae and RC9_gut_group are higher in this study than their proportions in camel and sheep in previous studies [8,68] as well as cow [57], buffalo [69], and deer [62]. Furthermore, the relative abundance of Prevotella was lower than in other ruminant animals [8,57,62,68,69].…”

Effect of olive and date palm by-products on rumen methanogenic community in Barki sheep

“…Barki sheep breed is a crucial part of food security in arid countries due to its adaptability to desert harsh conditions; however, it lacks the appropriate feeding systems to increase its productive performance [9] . Therefore, various combinations of locally available feed resources could be used to enhance animal productivity at a low cost [10] .…”

“…The availability of local agricultural byproducts generated the primary interest to incorporate them in animal feed to fill the gap in animal feeding and avoid the environmental consequences [7] , [9] . Large quantities of agricultural wastes such as OC, DD, and DPF are produced in arid countries; thus, these byproducts could replace the traditional feed resources [9] .…”

“…The availability of local agricultural byproducts generated the primary interest to incorporate them in animal feed to fill the gap in animal feeding and avoid the environmental consequences [7] , [9] . Large quantities of agricultural wastes such as OC, DD, and DPF are produced in arid countries; thus, these byproducts could replace the traditional feed resources [9] . Derivatives provided from date palm trees and OC are rich in phenolic compounds that influence the rumen microbiota and enzymes negatively besides their inhibitory effect on methane production [7] , [9] .…”