title: Characterization of faecal microbial communities of dairy cows fed diets containing ensiled Moringa oleifera fodder.
abstract: Moringa oleifera (M. oleifera) is a remarkable species with high nutritional value and good biomass production, which can be used as livestock fodder. In this study, we examined changes in the faecal microbiota of thirty dairy cows in response to alternative M. oleifera diets and their effects on nutrient digestion, milk traits and the faecal concentrations of short-chain fatty acids. No differences in milk yield and constituents were found between the control and the M. oleifera alternative groups. Cows fed M. oleifera silage had lower dry matter digestibility, as well as the propionate and isovalerate concentrations in M. oleifera treated group. Using 16S rDNA gene sequencing, 1,299,556 paired-end reads were obtained. Clustering analysis revealed 13 phyla and 93 genera across all samples. Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes were the co-dominant phyla. Ten taxa displayed a significant difference in response to the high M. oleifera diet. In addition, strong correlations between Akkermansia and Prevotella with milk yield and protein indicated that some bacterial groups could be used to improve milk traits. Our results provided an insight into the microbiome-associated responses to M. oleifera in livestock diets, and could aid the development of novel applications of M. oleifera.
authors.affiliation: College of Animal Science, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Agro-Animal Genomics and Molecular Breeding, National Engineering Research Center for Breeding Swine Industry, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510642, China.
authors.forename: Jiajie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.affiliation: College of Animal Science, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Agro-Animal Genomics and Molecular Breeding, National Engineering Research Center for Breeding Swine Industry, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510642, China.
authors.forename: Bin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Zeng
authors.affiliation: College of Forestry and Landscape Architecture, Guangdong Engineering &Research Center for Woody Fodder Plants, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510642, China.
authors.forename: Zujing
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Agro-biological Gene Research Center, Guangdong Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Guangzhou 510640, Guangdong Province, China.
authors.forename: Shijuan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yan
authors.affiliation: Agro-biological Gene Research Center, Guangdong Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Guangzhou 510640, Guangdong Province, China.
authors.forename: Wenjie
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: College of Animal Science, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Agro-Animal Genomics and Molecular Breeding, National Engineering Research Center for Breeding Swine Industry, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510642, China.
authors.forename: Baoli
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.affiliation: College of Forestry and Landscape Architecture, Guangdong Engineering &Research Center for Woody Fodder Plants, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510642, China.
authors.forename: Qian
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: He
authors.affiliation: College of Forestry and Landscape Architecture, Guangdong Engineering &Research Center for Woody Fodder Plants, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510642, China.
authors.forename: Xiaoyang
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: College of Animal Science, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Agro-Animal Genomics and Molecular Breeding, National Engineering Research Center for Breeding Swine Industry, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510642, China.
authors.forename: Ting
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: College of Animal Science, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Agro-Animal Genomics and Molecular Breeding, National Engineering Research Center for Breeding Swine Industry, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510642, China.
authors.forename: Qingyan
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.affiliation: College of Animal Science, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Agro-Animal Genomics and Molecular Breeding, National Engineering Research Center for Breeding Swine Industry, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510642, China.
authors.forename: Qianyun
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Xi
authors.affiliation: College of Animal Science, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Agro-Animal Genomics and Molecular Breeding, National Engineering Research Center for Breeding Swine Industry, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510642, China.|College of Forestry and Landscape Architecture, Guangdong Engineering &Research Center for Woody Fodder Plants, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510642, China.
authors.forename: Yongliang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang
mesh_terms: D000821:Animal Feed / Q000032:analysis*; D000818:Animals; D002417:Cattle; D003612:Dairying; D004032:Diet; D005232:Fatty Acids, Volatile / Q000378:metabolism; D005243:Feces / Q000382:microbiology*; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D064307:Microbiota; D008892:Milk; D058977:Molecular Sequence Annotation; D029588:Moringa oleifera / Q000737:chemistry*; D010802:Phylogeny; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S / Q000235:genetics; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D012820:Silage
chemical_list: D005232:Fatty Acids, Volatile; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S