title: Influence of pH and the degree of protonation on the inhibitory effect of fatty acids in the ruminal methanogen Methanobrevibacter ruminantium strain M1.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the relationship between the protonation of medium-chain fatty acids (MCFA) and their inhibitory effect on a ruminal methanogen species.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Cell suspensions of Methanobrevibacter ruminantium M1 in 1 mg dry matter (DM) ml(-1) were supplemented with lauric acid (C12 ) and myristic acid (C14 ) at a concentration of 8 μg ml(-1) with different pH levels of the potassium-free buffer, where the calculated degrees of protonation of C12 and C14 varied from 0·3 to 50% and from 1 to 76% respectively. Methane formation, ATP efflux, potassium leakage and cell viability were monitored 15, 30 and 45 min after the reaction started. Declining methane formation rate, increasing ATP efflux and potassium leakage, and decreasing survival of M. ruminantium were observed with increasing degrees of protonation, i.e. with decreasing pH.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The inhibition of methanogenesis by C12 and C14 is more efficient at a pH of 5-6 as compared to pH 7.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Methane mitigation strategies in ruminants which use supplementation of feed with MCFA such as C12 and C14 may be more effective in a low rumen pH environment. This finding is helpful in designing diets to effectively decrease methane emissions by ruminants.
authors.affiliation: ETH Zurich, Institute of Agricultural Sciences, Zurich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: X
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: ETH Zurich, Institute of Agricultural Sciences, Zurich, Switzerland.|Justus Liebig University Giessen, Institute of Animal Nutrition and Nutritional Physiology, Giessen, Germany.
authors.forename: J O
authors.initials: JO
authors.lastname: Zeitz
authors.affiliation: ETH Zurich, Institute of Food, Nutrition and Health, Zurich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Meile
authors.affiliation: ETH Zurich, Institute of Agricultural Sciences, Zurich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kreuzer
authors.affiliation: ETH Zurich, Institute of Agricultural Sciences, Zurich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Schwarm
mesh_terms: D000821:Animal Feed; D000818:Animals; D004032:Diet; D005227:Fatty Acids / Q000494:pharmacology*; D006863:Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; D041581:Methanobrevibacter / Q000737:chemistry / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism*; D011522:Protons; D012418:Ruminants
chemical_list: D005227:Fatty Acids; D011522:Protons
keywords: agriculture; antimicrobials; environmental; mechanism of action; membrane