title: Assessing quality of Medicago sativa silage by monitoring bacterial composition with single molecule, real-time sequencing technology and various physiological parameters.
abstract: The present study applied the PacBio single molecule, real-time sequencing technology (SMRT) in evaluating the quality of silage production. Specifically, we produced four types of Medicago sativa silages by using four different lactic acid bacteria-based additives (AD-I, AD-II, AD-III and AD-IV). We monitored the changes in pH, organic acids (including butyric acid, the ratio of acetic acid/lactic acid, γ-aminobutyric acid, 4-hyroxy benzoic acid and phenyl lactic acid), mycotoxins, and bacterial microbiota during silage fermentation. Our results showed that the use of the additives was beneficial to the silage fermentation by enhancing a general pH and mycotoxin reduction, while increasing the organic acids content. By SMRT analysis of the microbial composition in eight silage samples, we found that the bacterial species number and relative abundances shifted apparently after fermentation. Such changes were specific to the LAB species in the additives. Particularly, Bacillus megaterium was the initial dominant species in the raw materials; and after the fermentation process, Pediococcus acidilactici and Lactobacillus plantarum became the most prevalent species, both of which were intrinsically present in the LAB additives. Our data have demonstrated that the SMRT sequencing platform is applicable in assessing the quality of silage.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Dairy Biotechnology and Engineering, Ministry of Education, Inner Mongolia Agricultural University, Hohhot, Inner Mongolia 010018, China.
authors.forename: Weichen
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Bao
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Dairy Biotechnology and Engineering, Ministry of Education, Inner Mongolia Agricultural University, Hohhot, Inner Mongolia 010018, China.
authors.forename: Zhihui
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Mi
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Dairy Biotechnology and Engineering, Ministry of Education, Inner Mongolia Agricultural University, Hohhot, Inner Mongolia 010018, China.
authors.forename: Haiyan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Dairy Biotechnology and Engineering, Ministry of Education, Inner Mongolia Agricultural University, Hohhot, Inner Mongolia 010018, China.
authors.forename: Yi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zheng
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Dairy Biotechnology and Engineering, Ministry of Education, Inner Mongolia Agricultural University, Hohhot, Inner Mongolia 010018, China.
authors.forename: Lai Yu
authors.initials: LY
authors.lastname: Kwok
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Dairy Biotechnology and Engineering, Ministry of Education, Inner Mongolia Agricultural University, Hohhot, Inner Mongolia 010018, China.
authors.forename: Heping
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Dairy Biotechnology and Engineering, Ministry of Education, Inner Mongolia Agricultural University, Hohhot, Inner Mongolia 010018, China.
authors.forename: Wenyi
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Zhang
mesh_terms: D019342:Acetic Acid / Q000032:analysis; D000821:Animal Feed; D005285:Fermentation; D006863:Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; D019344:Lactic Acid / Q000032:analysis; D007778:Lactobacillus / Q000235:genetics*; D000455:Medicago sativa / Q000382:microbiology*; D058889:Molecular Typing; D009183:Mycotoxins / Q000032:analysis; D011786:Quality Control; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S / Q000235:genetics; D060888:Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D012820:Silage / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000592:standards
chemical_list: D009183:Mycotoxins; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S; D019344:Lactic Acid; D019342:Acetic Acid