Effect of Saccharomyces cerevisiae on alfalfa nutrient degradation characteristics and rumen microbial populations of steers fed diets with different concentrate-to-forage ratios

Live yeast（Saccharomyces cerevisiae） constitutes an effective additive for animal production;its probiotic effect may be related to the concentrate-to-forage ratio（CTFR）.The objective of this study was to assess the effects of S.cerevisiae（SC） on fiber degradation and rumen microbial populations in steers fed diets with different levels of dietary concentrate.Ten Simmental × Local crossbred steers（450 ± 50 kg BW） were assigned to a control group or an SC group.Both groups were fed the same basal diet but the SC group received SC supplementation（8 × 10^9 cfu/h/d through the ruminal fistula）following a two-period crossover design.Each period consisted of four phases,each of which lasted 17 d：10 d for dietary adaptation,6 d for degradation study,and 1 d for rumen sample collection.From the 1^（st） to the 4^（th） phase,steers were fed in a stepwise fashion with increasing CTFRs,i.e.,30：70,50：50,70：30,and 90：10.The kinetics of dry matter and fiber degradation of alfalfa pellets were evaluated;the rumen microbial populations were detected using real-time PCR.The results revealed no significant（P〉 0.05） interactions between dietary CTFR and SC for most parameters.Dietary CTFR had a significant effect（P〈 0.01） on degradation characteristics of alfalfa pellets and the copies of rumen microorganism;the increasing concentrate level resulted in linear,quadratic or cubic variation trend for these parameters.SC supplementation significantly（P〈 0.05） affected dry matter（DM） and neutral detergent fiber（NDF）degradation rates（c_（DM）,c_（NDF）） and NDF effective degradability（ED_（NDF））.Compared with the control group,there was an increasing trend of rumen fungi and protozoa in SC group（P 〈 0.1）;copies of total bacteria in SC group were significantly higher（P〈 0.05）.Additionally,percentage of Ruminobacter amylophilus was significantly lower（P〈 0.05）but percentage of Selenomonas ruminantium was significantly higher（P〈 0.05） in the SC group.In a word,dietary CTFR had a significant effect on degradation characteristics of forage and rumen microbial population.S.cerevisiae had positive effects on DM and NDF degradation rate or effective degradability of forage;S.cerevisiae increased rumen total bacteria,fungi,protozoa,and lactate-utilizing bacteria but reduced starch-degrading and lactate-producing bacteria.

Impact on Acidification Characteristics of Anaerobic Digestion of Kitchen Waste by F/M

The effect of F/M on acidification characteristics during anaerobic digestion of kitchen waste was investigated. Under different F/M,p H,alkalinity,ethyl alcohol,volatile fatty acids(VFAs),and biogas production status of acidification effluent in 96 h were observed. The study results showed that the content of propionic acid + acetic acid reached 56%-80% when F/M≤1. 0,which was mainly known as propionic acid type of fermentation and was accompanied by methane. The value of alkalinity was only 3 000-4 000 mg/L,which indicated that the stability was weak in the system. When 1. 0 < F/M≤2. 5,the concentration of butyric acid + acetic acid was in the range of 77%-85%,and acid production rate per unit load was more than 250 mg VFAs/g VS,which was known as butyric acid type of fermentation. The fermentation type was stable and could provide more available VFAs for subsequent methanation processes because the value of alkalinity reached 5 650 mg/L. When F/M≥2. 5,the content of ethanol + acetic acid was 80%-92%,which was known as ethanol type of fermentation. And p H of 96 h was only 5. 0( F/M = 3. 0) and 4. 3(F/M =4.0),and acidification was serious and the stability was weak in the system,which would hinder the subsequent methanation process.Therefore,F/M influenced fermentation type,and it can provide a target product for subsequent methanation process by controlling F/M in a reasonable range.

Influence of biomass density and food to microorganisms ratio on the mixed culture type I methanotrophs enriched from activated sludge

Methanotrophic based process can be the remedy to offset the wastewater treatment facilities increasing energy requirements due to methanotroph＇s unique ability to integrate methane assimilation with multiple biotechnological applications like biological nitrogen removal and methanol production. Regardless of the methanotrophic process end product, the challenge to maintain stable microbial growth in the methanotrophs cultivation bioreactor at higher cell densities is one of the major obstacles facing the process upscaling. Therefore, a series of consecutive batch tests were performed to attentively investigate the biomass density influence on type I methanotrophs bacterial growth. In addition, food to microorganisms（F/M）, carbon to nitrogen（C/N） and nitrogen to microorganisms（N/M） ratio effect on the microbial activity was studied for the first time. It was clarified that the F/M ratio is the most influencing factor on the microbial growth at higher biomass densities rather than the biomass density increase, whereas C/N and N/M ratio change, while using nitrate as the nitrogen source,does not influence methanotrophs microbial growth. These study results would facilitate the scaling up of methanotrophic based biotechnology by identifying that F/M ratio as the key parameter that influences methanotrophs cultivation at high biomass densities.