Feeding Essential Oils to Neonatal Holstein Dairy Calves Results in Increased Ruminal Prevotellaceae Abundance and Propionate Concentrations

Since antibiotic use in animal production has become a public health concern, great efforts are being dedicated to find effective and viable alternatives. While essential oils (EO) have become attractive candidates for use in the livestock industry, their mode of action and microbial targets in food...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Prakash Poudel, Kelly Froehlich, David Paul Casper, Benoit St-Pierre
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2019-05-01
Series:Microorganisms
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2607/7/5/120
_version_ 1818265303845437440
author Prakash Poudel
Kelly Froehlich
David Paul Casper
Benoit St-Pierre
author_facet Prakash Poudel
Kelly Froehlich
David Paul Casper
Benoit St-Pierre
author_sort Prakash Poudel
collection DOAJ
description Since antibiotic use in animal production has become a public health concern, great efforts are being dedicated to find effective and viable alternatives. While essential oils (EO) have become attractive candidates for use in the livestock industry, their mode of action and microbial targets in food animals remain largely uncharacterized. To gain further insight, we investigated the rumen environment of neonatal calves fed calf starter pellets and milk replacer supplemented with a commercial blend of EO. Propionate concentrations were not only found to be higher in EO-fed calves compared to controls (<i>P</i> &lt; 0.05), but ruminal bacterial communities also differed greatly. For instance, the abundance of Firmicutes was significantly lower in samples from EO-fed calves than in controls, which appeared to be mostly due to lower Lachnospiraceae levels (<i>P</i> &lt; 0.05). In contrast, Bacteriodetes were more abundant in EO-fed calves compared to controls, which was primarily the result of higher Prevotellaceae (<i>P</i> &lt; 0.05). Notably, two bacterial operational taxonomic units (OTUs) were significantly more abundant in EO-fed calves; SD_Bt-00966 was found to be a close relative of <i>Prevotella ruminicola</i> (97%), while SD_Bt-00978 likely corresponded to an uncharacterized species of Gammaproteobacteria. In addition, Pearson correlation and canonical correspondence analyses revealed potential associations between other ruminal bacterial OTUs and either short chain fatty acids (SCFA) parameters or metrics for calf growth. Together, these results support that EO supplementation in growing dairy calves can modulate rumen function through SCFA production and growth of specific rumen bacterial groups.
first_indexed 2024-12-12T19:48:40Z
format Article
id doaj.art-cd386ee0a37e459390162d6c67814175
institution Directory Open Access Journal
issn 2076-2607
language English
last_indexed 2024-12-12T19:48:40Z
publishDate 2019-05-01
publisher MDPI AG
record_format Article
series Microorganisms
spelling doaj.art-cd386ee0a37e459390162d6c678141752022-12-22T00:14:01ZengMDPI AGMicroorganisms2076-26072019-05-017512010.3390/microorganisms7050120microorganisms7050120Feeding Essential Oils to Neonatal Holstein Dairy Calves Results in Increased Ruminal Prevotellaceae Abundance and Propionate ConcentrationsPrakash Poudel0Kelly Froehlich1David Paul Casper2Benoit St-Pierre3Department of Animal Science, South Dakota State University, Animal Science Complex, Box 2170, Brookings, South Dakota, SD 57007, USADepartment of Agricultural Sciences, Lincoln University, Lincoln 7647, Canterbury, New ZealandFurst-McNess Company, 120 East Clark Street, Freeport, IL 61032, USADepartment of Animal Science, South Dakota State University, Animal Science Complex, Box 2170, Brookings, South Dakota, SD 57007, USASince antibiotic use in animal production has become a public health concern, great efforts are being dedicated to find effective and viable alternatives. While essential oils (EO) have become attractive candidates for use in the livestock industry, their mode of action and microbial targets in food animals remain largely uncharacterized. To gain further insight, we investigated the rumen environment of neonatal calves fed calf starter pellets and milk replacer supplemented with a commercial blend of EO. Propionate concentrations were not only found to be higher in EO-fed calves compared to controls (<i>P</i> &lt; 0.05), but ruminal bacterial communities also differed greatly. For instance, the abundance of Firmicutes was significantly lower in samples from EO-fed calves than in controls, which appeared to be mostly due to lower Lachnospiraceae levels (<i>P</i> &lt; 0.05). In contrast, Bacteriodetes were more abundant in EO-fed calves compared to controls, which was primarily the result of higher Prevotellaceae (<i>P</i> &lt; 0.05). Notably, two bacterial operational taxonomic units (OTUs) were significantly more abundant in EO-fed calves; SD_Bt-00966 was found to be a close relative of <i>Prevotella ruminicola</i> (97%), while SD_Bt-00978 likely corresponded to an uncharacterized species of Gammaproteobacteria. In addition, Pearson correlation and canonical correspondence analyses revealed potential associations between other ruminal bacterial OTUs and either short chain fatty acids (SCFA) parameters or metrics for calf growth. Together, these results support that EO supplementation in growing dairy calves can modulate rumen function through SCFA production and growth of specific rumen bacterial groups.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2607/7/5/120rumenmicrobiomebacteriaessential oilspropionate<i>Prevotella</i>
spellingShingle Prakash Poudel
Kelly Froehlich
David Paul Casper
Benoit St-Pierre
Feeding Essential Oils to Neonatal Holstein Dairy Calves Results in Increased Ruminal Prevotellaceae Abundance and Propionate Concentrations
Microorganisms
rumen
microbiome
bacteria
essential oils
propionate
<i>Prevotella</i>
title Feeding Essential Oils to Neonatal Holstein Dairy Calves Results in Increased Ruminal Prevotellaceae Abundance and Propionate Concentrations
title_full Feeding Essential Oils to Neonatal Holstein Dairy Calves Results in Increased Ruminal Prevotellaceae Abundance and Propionate Concentrations
title_fullStr Feeding Essential Oils to Neonatal Holstein Dairy Calves Results in Increased Ruminal Prevotellaceae Abundance and Propionate Concentrations
title_full_unstemmed Feeding Essential Oils to Neonatal Holstein Dairy Calves Results in Increased Ruminal Prevotellaceae Abundance and Propionate Concentrations
title_short Feeding Essential Oils to Neonatal Holstein Dairy Calves Results in Increased Ruminal Prevotellaceae Abundance and Propionate Concentrations
title_sort feeding essential oils to neonatal holstein dairy calves results in increased ruminal prevotellaceae abundance and propionate concentrations
topic rumen
microbiome
bacteria
essential oils
propionate
<i>Prevotella</i>
url https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2607/7/5/120
work_keys_str_mv AT prakashpoudel feedingessentialoilstoneonatalholsteindairycalvesresultsinincreasedruminalprevotellaceaeabundanceandpropionateconcentrations
AT kellyfroehlich feedingessentialoilstoneonatalholsteindairycalvesresultsinincreasedruminalprevotellaceaeabundanceandpropionateconcentrations
AT davidpaulcasper feedingessentialoilstoneonatalholsteindairycalvesresultsinincreasedruminalprevotellaceaeabundanceandpropionateconcentrations
AT benoitstpierre feedingessentialoilstoneonatalholsteindairycalvesresultsinincreasedruminalprevotellaceaeabundanceandpropionateconcentrations