Zhang Junli, Bai Xue, Li Fen, Na Rina, Ma Yun, Liang Xiaojun
Institute of Animal Science, Ningxia Academy of Agriculture and Forestry, Yinchuan, Ningxia, China.
Key Laboratory of Ruminant Molecular and Cellular Breeding, College of Animal Science and Technology, Ningxia University, Yinchuan, China.
Front Microbiol. 2025 Aug 22;16:1641802. doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2025.1641802. eCollection 2025.
Inflammation and oxidative stress can seriously endanger the health and growth of beef cattle. Georgi (SB) has significant anti-inflammatory and antioxidative effects. However, studies on the application of SB stems and leaves as roughage in animal husbandry are limited. Therefore, in this study, we investigated the effects of adding different proportions of SB stems and leaves to roughage on the microbial diversity of bovine feces.
In total, 20 cattles (Simmental xlocal yellow cattle) were randomly divided into four groups: CON, G1, G2, and G3 (with 3%, 6%, and 9% SB stems and leaves added to the roughage, respectively). All cattles were exposed to pre-experimental conditions for 15 days and experimental conditions for 90 days. Growth performance indicators were measured on the 0th, 15th, 45th, and 90th days of the formal experiment. Blood was collected for measuring biochemical performance indices. Fresh fecal samples were collected on the 90th day for 16S sequencing to study the microbial diversity of cow feces.
The results showed that during the experiment, the F/G of the G1, G2, and G3 groups was significantly lower than that of the CON group ( < 0.05). The IL-10 content in the serum of the G3 group was significantly greater than that in the CON group ( < 0.05). The 16S rRNA results revealed significant differences in the composition of the bacterial community between the SB groups and the CON group. At the phylum level, adding the stems and leaves of SB significantly decreased the Firmicutes/Bacteroidetes ratio, and the relative abundances of Spirochaetes, Verrucomicrobia, and Proteobacteria decreased. At the genus level, , YRC22, , 5-7N15, , and were identified as markers of intergroup differences. These intergroup differential microbiota were associated with pathways such as amino acid biosynthesis, fatty acid and lipid biosynthesis, carbohydrate biosynthesis, carbohydrate degradation, nucleoside and nucleotide degradation, fermentation, glycolysis, the TCA cycle, glycan biosynthesis, and glycan degradation.
Our findings revealed that adding the stems and leaves of SB to feed can promote body growth and antioxidant capacity and increase the diversity of the gut microbiota. This new feeding strategy can improve the efficiency of cattle farming.
炎症和氧化应激会严重危及肉牛的健康和生长。地锦草（SB）具有显著的抗炎和抗氧化作用。然而，关于将地锦草茎叶作为粗饲料应用于畜牧业的研究有限。因此，在本研究中，我们调查了在粗饲料中添加不同比例地锦草茎叶对牛粪微生物多样性的影响。
总共20头牛（西门塔尔×本地黄牛）被随机分为四组：对照组（CON）、G1组、G2组和G3组（分别在粗饲料中添加3%、6%和9%的地锦草茎叶）。所有牛先在预实验条件下饲养15天，然后在实验条件下饲养90天。在正式实验的第0天、第15天、第45天和第90天测量生长性能指标。采集血液以测量生化性能指标。在第90天采集新鲜粪便样本进行16S测序，以研究牛粪的微生物多样性。
结果表明，在实验期间，G1组、G2组和G3组的料重比显著低于对照组（P<0.05）。G3组血清中白细胞介素-10含量显著高于对照组（P<0.05）。16S rRNA结果显示，地锦草组与对照组之间的细菌群落组成存在显著差异。在门水平上，添加地锦草茎叶显著降低了厚壁菌门/拟杆菌门的比例，螺旋体门、疣微菌门和变形菌门的相对丰度降低。在属水平上，YRC22、5-7N15等被鉴定为组间差异的标志物。这些组间差异微生物群与氨基酸生物合成、脂肪酸和脂质生物合成、碳水化合物生物合成、碳水化合物降解、核苷和核苷酸降解、发酵、糖酵解、三羧酸循环、聚糖生物合成和聚糖降解等途径相关。
我们的研究结果表明，在饲料中添加地锦草茎叶可以促进牛体生长和抗氧化能力，并增加肠道微生物群的多样性。这种新的饲养策略可以提高养牛效率。
