High-level dietary crude protein decreased backfat thickness and increased carcass yield score in finishing Hanwoo beef cattle (Bos taurus coreanae).

Recently, a high level of dietary crude protein (CP) has become of interest as a possible practice to improve the carcass quality of beef cattle, and its level has been increasing in the field. However, there is little scientific evidence that supports this. This study was conducted to test whether a high dietary CP level would improve growth performance, body metabolism, and carcass traits in Hanwoo beef cattle. A total of 32 Hanwoo finishing beef cattle (18 multiparous cows, six heifers, and eight steers) participated in a 12-weeks feeding trial. Two kinds of total mixed rations were prepared to contain two different CP; 156 g/kg for the control (CON) and 173 g/kg of CP for the treatment (HCP), while maintaining a similar level of metabolizable energy. The experiment was ended when more than half of the steers reached the target body weight (730 kg). Blood was collected at the end of the experiment. After harvesting, the carcass trait was evaluated at the slaughterhouse according to Korean standards. The carcass yield score and grade were also calculated based on revised criteria. Overall, dry matter intake, average daily gain, blood metabolites concentration, and the carcass traits, except for backfat thickness and the yield score, did not differ between the treatments. The HCP had lower backfat thickness than those of CON. There was no difference in the carcass yield grade, but the yield score was higher in the HCP treatment. According to the newly revised carcass grading criteria, both yield score and grade were higher in HCP than in CON. Increasing CP supply decreased the carcass's backfat thickness without altering growth performance and body metabolism, resulting in improved yield score and grade. Therefore, feeding a high CP diet may be beneficial in the farm income, although it may also increase feed cost and nitrogen excretion to the environment.

Effects of ß-Mannanase and Bacteriophage Supplementation on Health and Growth Performance of Holstein Calves.

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of dietary supplementation with bacteriophage and ß-mannanase on health and growth performance in calves. Thirty-six pre-weaning male Holstein calves were randomly allocated to one of four dietary treatments with a 2 × 2 factorial arrangement: no supplementation, 0.1% ß-mannanase, 0.1% bacteriophage, and both 0.1% bacteriophage and 0.1% ß-mannanase supplementation in a starter on a dry matter basis. The experiment lasted from 2 weeks before weaning to 8 weeks after weaning. Twenty-two calves survived to the end of the experiment. No interaction was observed between the two different feed additives. The bacteriophage supplementation tended to increase the odds ratio of survival (p = 0.09). The number of Escherichia coli in feces significantly decreased by bacteriophage supplementation one week after weaning. ß-mannanase supplementation increased the concentrate intake (p < 0.01) and tended to increase the final BW (p = 0.08). Analysis of repeated measures indicated ß-mannanase supplementation increased weekly body weight gain (p = 0.018). We conclude that bacteriophage supplementation may have a positive effect on calf survival rate, while ß-mannanase supplementation may increase the growth rate and starter intake by calves just before and after weaning.

Effects of reducing inclusion rate of roughages by changing roughage sources and concentrate types on intake, growth, rumen fermentation characteristics, and blood parameters of Hanwoo growing cattle (Bos Taurus coreanae).

OBJECTIVE: Reducing roughage feeding without negatively affecting rumen health is of interest in ruminant nutrition. We investigated the effects of roughage sources and concentrate types on growth performance, ruminal fermentation, and blood metabolite levels in growing cattle. METHODS: In this 24-week trial, 24 Hanwoo cattle (224±24.7 kg) were fed similar nitrous and energy levels of total mixed ration formulated using two kinds of roughage (timothy hay and ryegrass straw) and two types of concentrate mixes (high starch [HS] and high fiber [HF]). The treatments were arranged in a 2×2 factorial, consisting of 32% timothy-68% HS, 24% timothy-76% HF, 24% ryegrass-76% HS, and 17% ryegrass-83% HF. Daily feed intakes were measured. Every four weeks, blood were sampled, and body weight was measured before morning feeding. Every eight weeks, rumen fluid was collected using a stomach tube over five consecutive days. RESULTS: The mean dry matter intake (7.33 kg) and average daily gain (1,033 g) did not differ among treatments. However, significant interactions between roughage source and concentrate type were observed for the rumen and blood parameters (p<0.05). Total volatile fatty acid concentration was highest (p<0.05) in timothy-HF-fed calves. With ryegrass as the roughage source, decreasing the roughage inclusion rate increased the molar proportion of propionate and decreased the acetate-to-propionate ratio; the opposite was observed with timothy as the roughage source. Similarly, the effects of concentrate types on plasma total protein, alanine transaminase, Ca, inorganic P, total cholesterol, triglycerides, and creatinine concentrations differed with roughage source (p<0.05). CONCLUSION: Decreasing the dietary roughage inclusion rate by replacing forage neutral detergent fiber with that from non-roughage fiber source might be a feasible feeding practice in growing cattle. A combination of low-quality roughage with a high fiber concentrate might be economically beneficial.

Characteristics of adjacent family 6 acetylxylan esterases from Fibrobacter succinogenes and the interaction with the Xyn10E xylanase in hydrolysis of acetylated xylan.

Acetylxylan esterase genes axe6A and axe6B located adjacent to one another on a Fibrobacter succinogenes chromosome have been separately cloned and their properties characterized. The corresponding esterases contained an N-terminal carbohydrate esterase family 6 catalytic domain (CD) and a C-terminal family 6 carbohydrate-binding module (CBM). The amino acid sequences of the CDs and CBMs were found to exhibit 52% and 40% amino acid similarity, respectively. The CDs of the two esterases exhibited the highest similarity to CDs of acetylxylan esterases: AxeA from the ruminal fungi Orpinomyces sp. and BnaA from Neocallimastix patriciarum. Axe6A and Axe6B were optimally active at neutral pH and had low K(m) values of 0.084 and 0.056 mmol x L(-1), respectively. Axe6A and Axe6B were shown to bind to insoluble cellulose and xylan and to soluble arabinoxylan. Axe6A deacetylated acetylated xylan at the same initial rate in the presence and absence of added Xyn10E xylanase from F. succinogenes, but the action of the xylanase on acetylated xylan was dependent upon the initial activity of Axe6A. The capacity of acetylxylan esterases to bind to plant cell wall polymers and to independently deacetylate xylan enabling xylanase to release xylooligo saccharides, documents the central role these enzymes have to improve access of F. succinogenes to cellulose.