Effects of steam explosion pretreatment and Lactobacillus buchneri inoculation on fungal community of unensiled and ensiled total mixed ration containing wheat straw during air exposure

Effects of turning frequency on fermentation efficiency and microbial community metabolic function of sheep manure composting on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau

This study explored the effects of turning frequency on fermentation efficiency and microbial metabolic function of sheep manure composting on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau (QTP). Five treatments with different turning frequencies were set up in this study: turning every 1 day (T1), 2 days (T2), 4 days (T3), 6 days (T4), and 8 days (T5). Results showed that the high temperature period for T1 and T5 lasted only 4 days, while that for T2-T4 lasted more than 8 days. The germination index of T1 and T5 was lower than 80%, while that of T2-T4 was 100.6%, 97.8%, and 88.6%, respectively. This study further predicted the microbial metabolic function of T2-T4 using the bioinformatics tool PICRUSt2 (Phylogenetic Investigation of Communities by Reconstruction of Unobserved States) and determining the activities of various functional enzymes. The results showed that carbohydrate metabolism, protein metabolism, and nucleotide metabolism were the main metabolic pathways of microorganisms, and that T2 increased the abundance of functional genes of these metabolic pathways. The activities of protease, cellulase, and peroxidase in T2 and T3 were higher than those in T4, and the effect of T2 was more significant. In conclusion, turning once every 2 days can improve the quality of sheep manure compost on the QTP.

Perilla frutescens as potential antimicrobial modifier to against forage oat silage spoilage

The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of Perilla frutescens, alone or in combination with Lactobacillus plantarum a214 or citric acid, on forage oat silage quality, bacterial and fungal microbiological profile during ensiling and aerobic exposure. With the exception of Perilla frutescens, all additives could improve silage quality of forage oat based on lower ammonia-nitrogen content and higher residual of water soluble carbohydrates during anaerobic fermentation compared to control silage, especially in Perilla frutescens combined with citric acid (CAPF). Lactobacillus was the dominant bacteria in all silages, while CAPF group increased the relative abundance of Lactobacillus lindneri and Lactobacillus brevis compared to control silage. The application of Perilla frutescens suppressed the relative abundance of yeasts such as Pichia fermentans and Wickerhamomyces anomalus in response to aerobic exposure, especially in CAPF treatment, leading to high acetic acids and lower dry matter loss, as well as good aerobic stability. Therefore, Perilla frutescens, alone or in combination with citric acid, has potential to improve aerobic stability of forage oat silage by shifting bacterial and fungal community composition, and can be used as new additive to prepare high-quality silage for animal production.

Effects of Regular Water Replenishment on Enzyme Activities and Fungal Metabolic Function of Sheep Manure Composting on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau

The dry climate characteristics of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau will seriously affect microbial metabolism during composting. In this study, we aimed to investigate the effects of regular water supplementation on the fungal and enzymatic activities of sheep manure composting in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. The experiment set up the treatments of water replenishment once every 7 days(T2) and 3.5 days (T3) days, and no water supplementation was used as the control (T1). The results showed that regular water supplementation increased the activities of various enzymes during composting, and the activities of protease, cellulase, peroxidase and polyphenol oxidase in T3 were higher than those in T2. Regular water supplementation increased the relative abundance of Remersonia and Mycothermus, which were significantly positively correlated with the germination index, and degradation of organic components. Regular water supplementation could enrich fungi carbohydrate, protein, and nucleotide metabolisms, and T3 had a better effect. A redundancy analysis showed that environmental factors could significantly affect the fungal community; among them, moisture content (76.9%, p = 0.002) was the greatest contributor. In conclusion, regular water supplementation can improve the key enzyme activities and fungal metabolic function of sheep manure composting, and water replenishment once every 3.5 days had the best effect.

Dynamics of defatted rice bran in physicochemical characteristics, microbiota and metabolic functions during two-stage co-fermentation

Defatted rice bran (DFRB) is an inexpensive and easily available agricultural byproduct. Existence of anti-nutritional factors (ANFs), high fiber and low protein content, susceptible to oxidation and rancidity make DFRB currently underutilized. In this study, Bacillus subtilis with high enzyme activities, Saccharomyces cerevisiae with high single-cell proteins concentration and Lactiplantibacillus plantarum with excellent acid secreting capacity were screened to co-fermented DFRB with phytase, and multiple physicochemical analyses combined with high-throughput sequencing were applied to provide insights into the dynamics of the physicochemical characteristics and the complex microbiome during the two-stage co-fermentation of DFRB. The results showed that co-fermentation effectively improved the nutritional value by degrading ANFs (trypsin inhibitors and phytic acid), fiber (acid detergent fiber and neutral detergent fiber) and allergenic protein, and increasing the trichloroacetic acid soluble protein, amino acids and organic acid. In addition, co-fermentation prevented lipid oxidation by enhancing antioxidant activity and reducing the activity of lipase and lipoxygenase. High-throughput sequencing results suggested that co-fermentation optimized microbial community of DFRB by increasing desirable Lactobacillus, Pediococcus, Saccharomyces and Talaromyces and reducing undesirable bacteria (Enterobacter and Pseudomonas) and animal and plant-pathogenic fungi (Blumeria, Alternaria, Fusarium, etc.). Furthermore, high-throughput sequencing and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) were adopted to predict microbial metabolic functions and metabolic pathways during whole DFRB co-fermentation.

The Present Role and New Potentials of Anaerobic Fungi in Ruminant Nutrition

The ruminal microbiota allows ruminants to utilize fibrous feeds and is in the limelight of ruminant nutrition research for many years. However, the overwhelming majority of investigations have focused on bacteria, whereas anaerobic fungi (AF) have been widely neglected by ruminant nutritionists. Anaerobic fungi are not only crucial fiber degraders but also important nutrient sources for the host. This review summarizes the current findings on AF and, most importantly, discusses their new application potentials in modern ruminant nutrition. Available data suggest AF can be applied as direct-fed microbials to enhance ruminal fiber degradation, which is indeed of interest for high-yielding dairy cows that often show depressed ruminal fibrolysis in response to high-grain feeding. Moreover, these microorganisms have relevance for the nutrient supply and reduction of methane emissions. However, to reach AF-related improvements in ruminal fiber breakdown and animal performance, obstacles in large-scale AF cultivation and applicable administration options need to be overcome. At feedstuff level, silage production may benefit from the application of fungal enzymes that cleave lignocellulosic structures and consequently enable higher energy exploitation from forages in the rumen. Concluding, AF hold several potentials in improving ruminant feeding and future research efforts are called for to harness these potentials.

The effects of air stress during storage and low packing density on the fermentation and aerobic stability of corn silage inoculated with Lactobacillus buchneri 40788

We determined if a microbial inoculant could improve the fermentation and aerobic stability of corn silage subjected to various challenges during storage that included an air stress challenge and low packing density. In Experiment 1, whole-plant corn was untreated (CTR) or treated (INO, Lactobacillus buchneri 40788 and Pediococcus pentosaceus 12455. Five individually replicated 7.5-L silos, at a density of 240 kg of dry matter (DM)/m³, for each treatment were kept sealed (NAS) for 19 wk, air stressed early (ES, 3 h/wk for wk 1-9), or air stressed late during storage (LS, 3 h/wk for wk 10-19). Inoculation increased the number of agar-culturable lactic acid bacteria regardless of air stress status, but it did not affect the relative abundance of Lactobacillus. Early, but not late air stress, resulted in silages with a higher relative abundance of Acetobacter when compared with NAS. Silages treated with INO had greater concentrations of acetic acid than CTR. Numbers of yeasts were lowest for INO regardless of air stress and CTR-LS had the most yeasts among all treatments. Silages that were not air stressed had a higher relative abundance of Candida tropicalis than air stressed silages. Monascus purpureus was detected in ES and LS but not in NAS, and its relative abundance was numerically higher in CTR-ES than in INO-ES and statistically higher in CTR-LS compared with INO-LS. Early air stress numerically reduced aerobic stability compared with NAS, and there was a statistical tendency for lower stability in LS compared with NAS. Inoculation improved aerobic stability regardless of when the air stress occurred. In Experiment 2, corn silage was prepared with the same primary treatments of CTR and INO but was packed at a low (LD; 180 kg of DM/m³) or a normal (ND; 240 kg of DM/m³) density and sealed (NAS) or air stressed (AS; 24 h on d 28, 42, and 89) for 92 d of storage. The concentration of acetic acid was greater in INO compared with CTR and in AS compared with NAS. Numbers of yeasts were lower in NAS compared with AS regardless of inoculation and they were lower in INO-AS compared with CTR-AS. Treatment with INO improved aerobic stability but the improvement was better in NAS versus AS and better in ND versus LD. Overall, our experiments corroborate past findings showing that INO markedly improves the aerobic stability of corn silage but they are the first to show that improvement can be sustained even when the silage was exposed to regular air stresses and when packed at a low density.