This edition of “Have you Herd” is sponsored by Lactipro. Lactipro harnesses the power of Mega e, a superior lactic acid utilizer, enabling beef and dairy producers to support healthy rumen function. Lactipro places a large number of Mega e into its native environment, the rumen, where it immediately begins targeting lactic acid. To learn more about the science behind Lactipro, visit https://msbiotec.com/lactipro. Our guest is Dr. Jane Leedle, a ruminant microbiologist. Leedle discusses her background and interest in environmental contamination research which led to her research in anaerobic bacteria and water quality. She eventually developed an interest in the cow’s rumen due to her research in anaerobic bacterial environments. We discuss the products of ruminant fermentation, known as volatile fatty acids, and the impact to the rumen microbiome in animals that are experiencing acute or sub-acute rumen acidosis due to higher concentrations of starches and grain in fed cattle and dairy cattle diets.  Leedle reminds us that lactic acid is 10 times more acidic than acetate, butyrate and proprionate which will lead to a reduction in pH along the entire GI tract and changes in the microbiome to lactic acid utilizers. Megaspheara elsdenii is an indigenous organism that utilizes lactic acid. This is an FDA approved direct fed microbial (DFM) that can be utilized to mitigate the effects of lactic acid production in high-concentrate diets. The discovery of the NCIMB 41125 strain of Mega e allowed for the commercial production of the bacteria that can be inoculated into the rumen to provide a substrate of bacteria to step-up cattle to higher concentrate diets and allow for conversion of lactic acid to butyrate. Learn more about the role of Megaspheara elsdenii as a direct-fed microbial by visiting the links below.

Links:

MS BIOTECH – https://msbiotec.com/lactipro

Chen L, Shen Y, Wang C, Ding L, Zhao F, Wang M, Fu J, Wang H. Megasphaera elsdenii Lactate Degradation Pattern Shifts in Rumen Acidosis Models. Front Microbiol. 2019 Feb 7;10:162. doi:10.3389/fmicb.2019.00162\

Arik HD, Gulsen N, Hayirli A, Alatas MS. Efficacy of Megasphaera elsdenii inoculation in subacute ruminal acidosis in cattle. J Anim Physiol Anim Nutr (Berl). 2019 Mar;103(2):416-426. doi:10.1111/jpn.13034.

DeClerck JC, Wade ZE, Reeves NR, Miller MF, Johnson BJ, Ducharme GA, Rathmann RJ. Influence of Megasphaera elsdenii and feeding strategies on feedlot performance, compositional growth, and carcass parameters of early weaned, beef calves. Transl Anim Sci. 2020 Mar 17;4(2):txaa031. doi:10.1093/tas/txaa031.