A single injection of 15 g NaCl into the rumen, which increased the osmotic pressure of rumen fluid from 369 to 474 mOsmol/kg, resulted in a decrease in the transfer of blood urea into rumen fluid from 2.3 to 1.6 g N/day in sheep fed 50 g of chaffed oaten hay every hour. It is concluded that the reduced urea transfer was the result of a reduced urea input via saliva. The rumen wall remained vir...

First described in 1843, Rumen protozoa with their striking appearance were assumed to be important for the welfare of their host. However, despite contributing up to 50% of the bio-mass in the rumen, the role of protozoa in rumen microbial ecosystem remains unclear. Phylogenetic analysis of 18S rDNA libraries generated from the rumen of cattle, sheep, and goats has revealed an unexpected diver...

The manufacturing processes of royal demolition explosive (RDX), or hexahydro-1,3,5-trinitro-1,3,5-triazine, have resulted in serious water contamination. As a potential carcinogen, RDX can cause a broad range of harmful effects to humans and animals. The ovine rumen is capable of rapid degradation of nitroaromatic compounds, including RDX. While ruminal RDX-degrading bacteria have been identif...

A better understanding of the factors that regulate growth and immune response of the gastrointestinal tract (GIT) of calves will promote informed management practices in calf rearing. This study aimed to explore genomics (messenger RNA (mRNA)) and epigenomics (long non-coding RNA (lncRNA)) mechanisms regulating the development of the rumen and ileum in calves. Thirty-two calves (≈5-days-old) w...

Fifteen cross-bred male lambs (Dorset × Small Tail Han), aged 7 weeks, with average liveweight of 13.8±0.8 kg, were used to study effects of feeding mixed volatile fatty acid (VFA) sodium salt on insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I), insulin-like growth factor-binding protein-3 (IGFBP-3) in plasma and rumen tissue and rumen epithelium development. The lambs were randomly divided into 5 groups w...

The development of the rumen digestive functions was studied in lambs placed in sterile isolators at 1, 4, 8 or 9 days of age to define the role of the bacterial species that colonize the rumen just after birth. The values of the main rumen digestive parameters (pH, concentrations of volatile fatty acid, ammonia, lactic acid) in these lambs were close to those observed in conventional controls....

The manipulation of the rumen microbial ecosystem to improve animal productivity and lessen environmental impacts has been a research goal for many decades. Impediments to a targeted manipulation of the rumen have included a lack of knowledge of the diversity of the rumen microbial population as well as a lack of methods to thoroughly evaluate microbial changes. Molecular based studies of the r...

The nutritional manipulations of the rumen microbiome to enhance productivity and health are rather limited by the resilience of the ecosystem once established in the mature rumen. Based on recent studies, it has been suggested that the microbial colonization that occurs soon after birth opens a possibility of manipulation with potential to produce lasting effects into adult life. This paper pr...

Anaerobic fungi were isolated from both the rumen and faeces of nine sheep and a cow. A reliable and simple method for the isolation of anaerobic fungi using 24 h rumen incubated milled straw as the inoculum source was developed. We also evaluate the use of chitin measurements as an assay of rumen fungal biomass. Chitin levels were determined from various sample sources (milled barley straw use...