Kinetics of microbial methionine metabolism in continuous cultures administered different methionine sources

The Met precursor 2-hydroxy-4-(methylthio) butanoic acid (HMB) is expected to be more extensively degraded in the rumen than its isopropyl ester (HMBi). A control and 3 isomolar treatments-0.097% DL-methionine, 0.11% HMBi (HMBi), and 0.055% HMBi plus 0.048% Met (Met + HMBi)-were dosed every 8 h simultaneously with 3-times-daily feeding into continuous cultures. Starting on d 9, for 6 consecutive doses, both [1-C-13]-L-Met and [methyl-H-2(3)]-L-Met replaced part of the unlabeled dl-Met, [C-13(5)]-DL-HMBi replaced a portion of the unlabeled DL-HMBi, and [1-C-13]-L-Met plus [(13)C5]-DL-HMBi replaced a portion of the respective unlabeled doses for the Met + HMBi treatment. After the sixth dose (d 11), unlabeled Met or HMBi provided 100% of the doses to follow elimination kinetics of the labels in HMBi, free Met, and bacterial Met compartments. The free [1-C-13]-L-Met recycled more and was recovered in bacterial Met to a lesser extent than was the free [methyl-H-2(3)]-L-Met recycling and that was recovered in bacterial Met. Increasing HMBi inclusion (0, 50, and 100% substitution of the exogenously dosed Met on a molar equivalent basis) tended to increase HMBi escape from 54.7 to 71.3% for the 50 and 100% HMBi treatments, respectively. Despite HMBi substituting for and decreasing the dosage of Met, increasing HMBi increased accumulation of free Met in fermenter fluid. The HMBi (after de-esterification of the isopropyl group) presumably produces Met through the intermediate alpha-ketomethylthyiobutyrate with an aminotransferase that also has high affinity for branched-chain AA. We provide evidence that the HMBi-derived Met is likely released from bacterial cells and accumulates rather than being degraded, potentially as a result of lagging D-stereoisomer metabolism. More research is needed to evaluate racemization and metabolism of stereoisomers of HMBi, Met, and other AA in ruminal microbes.