title: Influence of nitrogen source on the fermentation of fibre from barley straw and sugarbeet pulp by ruminal micro-organisms in vitro.
abstract: Incubations were carried out with a batch culture system to study the effects of different N sources on the fermentation by ruminal micro-organisms from Merino sheep of two fibre substrates derived from feedstuffs that differed in their fermentation rate. The substrates were neutral-detergent fibre (NDF) from barley straw and sugarbeet pulp. N sources were ammonia (NH4Cl) and peptides (Trypticase). Three treatments were made by replacing ammonia-N with peptide-N at levels of 0 (AMMO), 33 (PEPLOW) and 66 % (PEPHIGH) of total N. There were no differences (P>0.05) between treatments in NDF degradation for both the barley straw and the sugarbeet pulp. Peptides increased (P<0.05) total volatile fatty acids daily production for both substrates, with greater values (P<0.001) for PEPHIGH than for PEPLOW for the sugarbeet pulp. The presence of peptides also increased (P<0.05) microbial N synthesis compared with AMMO, with PEPHIGH supporting more growth (P<0.001) than PEPLOW when the sugarbeet pulp NDF was fermented. The presence of peptides increased (P<0.01) the amount of solids-associated micro-organisms (SAM)-N for both the barley straw and the sugarbeet pulp fibres, values in the PEPHIGH treatment being higher (P<0.001) than those in PEPLOW. The proportion of SAM-N in the total microbial N was not affected (P>0.05) by the presence of peptides compared with the AMMO treatment, but values were greater for the PEPHIGH compared with the PEPLOW N source, reaching statistical significance (P<0.05) only for the sugarbeet pulp. For liquid-associated micro-organisms, the AMMO treatment resulted in the greatest (P<0.05) proportion of N derived from ammonia for both substrates, with a further decrease (P<0.01) for the PEPHIGH treatment compared with the PEPLOW for the sugarbeet pulp, indicating preferential uptake of peptides when they were available. Microbial growth efficiency (g microbial N/kg NDF degraded) was not affected (P>0.05) by N source. These results indicate that N forms other than ammonia are needed for maximal growth of fibre-digesting ruminal micro-organisms.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Producción Animal I, Campus de Vegazana, Universidad de León, 24071 León, Spain. DP1MRG@UNILEON.ES
authors.forename: M J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Ranilla
authors.forename: M D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Carro
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: López
authors.forename: C J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Newbold
authors.forename: R J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Wallace
mesh_terms: D000821:Animal Feed; D000824:Animal Nutritional Physiological Phenomena; D000818:Animals; D001419:Bacteria / Q000378:metabolism*; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis; D004043:Dietary Fiber / Q000378:metabolism*; D005285:Fermentation / Q000502:physiology; D001467:Hordeum; D009584:Nitrogen / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D012417:Rumen / Q000378:metabolism / Q000382:microbiology*; D012756:Sheep / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000382:microbiology
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D004043:Dietary Fiber; D009584:Nitrogen