Investigation of ruminal bacterial diversity in dairy cattle fed supplementary monensin alone and in combination with fat, using pyrosequencing analysis

The objective of this study was to examine and compare the effects of monensin, both alone and together with dietary fat, on ruminal bacterial communities in dairy cattle fed the following 3 diets: a control diet, the control diet supplemented with monensin, and the control diet supplemented with both monensin and fat. Bacterial communities in the liquid and the adherent fractions of rumen content were analyzed using 454 pyrosequencing analysis of 16S rRNA gene amplicons. Most sequences were assigned to phyla Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes, irrespective of diets and fractions. Prevotella was the most dominant genus, but most sequences could not be classified at the genus level. The proportion of Gram-positive Firmicutes was reduced by 4.5% in response to monensin but increased by 12.8% by combination of monensin and fat, compared with the control diet. Some of the operational taxonomic units in Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes were also affected by monensin or by the combination of monensin with fat. The proportion of numerous bacteria potentially involved in lipolysis and (or) biohydrogenation was increased by both monensin and fat. The Shannon diversity index was decreased in the control diet supplemented with both monensin and fat, compared with the other 2 diet groups. Supplementary fats hinder bacterial attachment to plant particles and then result in decreased bacterial diversity in the rumen. The finding of this study may help in understanding the effect of monensin and fat on ruminant nutrition and the adverse effect of monensin and fat, such as milk fat depression and decreased feed digestibility.