Effects of acute and chronic heat stress on the rumen microbiome in dairy goats

Li, Min; Xu, Lian-Bin; Zhang, Chen; Zhang, Pei-Hua; Tao, Sha; Liu, Hongyun

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Anim Biosci > Accepted Articles

Article

https://doi.org/10.5713/ab.24.0120 [Accepted] Published online June 26, 2024.

Effects of acute and chronic heat stress on the rumen microbiome in dairy goats

Min Li¹

, Hongyun Liu^1,*

¹College of Animal Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310058, China
²College of Animal Science and Technology, Hunan Agricultural University, Changsha, 410128, China
³Department of Animal and Dairy Science, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602, USA

Correspondence: Hongyun Liu, Tel: +1-0571-88982965, Fax: +1-0571-88982965, Email: hyliu@zju.edu.cn

Received: 28 February 2024 • Revised: 15 May 2024 • Accepted: 18 June 2024

Abstract

Objective
The objective of this study was to reveal the influence of acute and chronic heat stress (HS) on the abundance and function of rumen microbiome and host metabolism.
Methods
The forty mid-lactation goats were randomly divided into two artificial environments a control group and a heat-stressed group. This study was collected from two periods, 1 day and 28 days. The first day was defined as control 1 (CT1) and HS 1 (acute HS), and the last day was defined as CT28 and HS28 (chronic HS). On the first and last day, 6 dairy goats in each group were randomly selected to collect rumen liquid after the morning feeding through oral stomach tubes. The barn temperature and humidity were recorded every day.
Results
Disruption of the rumen microbiome was observed under chronic HS, represented by an increase in the abundance of Prevotella and Bacteroidales (p<0.05), and upregulation of carbohydrate transport and metabolism functions (p<0.05). Additionally, the abundance of Succinimonas and Ruminobacter in chronic HS is lower than in acute HS (p<0.05), and the functions of intracellular trafficking, secretion and vesicular transport, and the cytoskeleton were downregulated (p<0.05).
Conclusion
HS affected the interaction between the microbiota and host, thereby regulating milk production in dairy goats. These findings increased understanding of the crosstalk between hosts and microorganisms.

Keywords: Acute; Chronic; Dairy Goats; Metabolism; Microbiota; Heat Stress