The impact of lactating Hu sheep’s dietary protein levels on lactation performance, progeny growth and rumen development
Creators: name: Wang, Yan-can
name: Wang, Xin
name: Li, Jian-zhong
name: Huang, Peng-fei
name: Li, Ya-li
name: Ding, Xue-qin
name: Huang, Jing
name: Zhu, Ming-zhi
name: Yin, Jia
name: Dai, Chun-peng
name: Wang, Qi-ye
name: Yang, Huan-sheng
Publisher: name: Taylor & Francis
Year: 2022
Subjects: subject: Biochemistry
subject: Microbiology
subject: FOS: Biological sciences
subject: Genetics
subject: Molecular Biology
subject: Physiology
subject: Ecology
subject: Biological Sciences not elsewhere classified

description: This study aimed to investigate whether lactating Hu sheep’s dietary protein levels could generate dynamic effects on the performance of their offspring. Twelve ewes with similar parity were fed iso-energy diets which contained different protein levels (P1: 9.82%, P2: 10.99%) (<i>n</i> = 6), and the corresponding offspring were divided into SP1 and SP2 (<i>n</i> = 12). At 60 days, half of the lambs were harvested for further study: the carcass weight (<i>p</i> = 0.043) and dressing percentage (<i>p</i> = 0.004) in the SP2 group were significantly higher than SP1. The acetic acid (<i>p</i> = 0.007), propionic acid (<i>p</i> = 0.003), butyric acid (<i>p</i> &lt; 0.001) and volatile fatty acids (<i>p</i> &lt; 0.001) in rumen fluid of SP2 were significantly lower than SP1. The expression of <i>MCT2</i> (<i>p</i> = 0.024), <i>ACSS1</i> (<i>p</i> = 0.039) and <i>NHE3</i> (<i>p</i> = 0.006) in the rumen of SP2 was lower than SP1, while the <i>HMGCS1</i> (<i>p</i> = 0.026), <i>HMGCR</i> (<i>p</i> = 0.024) and <i>Na+/K+-ATPase</i> (<i>p</i> = 0.020) was higher than SP1. The three dominant phyla in the rumen are <i>Bacteroidetes</i>, <i>Proteobacteria</i> and <i>Firmicutes</i>. The membrane transport, amino acid metabolism and carbohydrate metabolism of SP1 were relatively enhanced, the replication and repair function of SP2 was relatively enhanced. To sum up, the increase of dietary protein level significantly increased the carcass weight and dressing percentage of offspring and had significant effects on rumen volatile fatty acids, acetic acid activation and cholesterol synthesis related genes. HIGHLIGHTSIn the early feeding period, the difference in ADG of lambs was mainly caused by the sucking effect.The increase in dietary protein level of ewes significantly increased the carcass weight and dressing percentage of offspring.The dietary protein level of ewes significantly affected the volatile fatty acids (VFAs) and genes related to acetic acid activation and cholesterol synthesis in the rumen of their offspring.The membrane transport, amino acid metabolism and carbohydrate metabolism of the offspring of ewes fed with a low protein diet were relatively enhanced.The replication and repair function of the offspring of ewes fed with a high protein diet was relatively strengthened. In the early feeding period, the difference in ADG of lambs was mainly caused by the sucking effect. The increase in dietary protein level of ewes significantly increased the carcass weight and dressing percentage of offspring. The dietary protein level of ewes significantly affected the volatile fatty acids (VFAs) and genes related to acetic acid activation and cholesterol synthesis in the rumen of their offspring. The membrane transport, amino acid metabolism and carbohydrate metabolism of the offspring of ewes fed with a low protein diet were relatively enhanced. The replication and repair function of the offspring of ewes fed with a high protein diet was relatively strengthened.