Effect of Methionine Supplementation on Serum Metabolism and the Rumen Bacterial Community of Sika Deer (Cervus nippon)

Yan Wu; Xiaolan Guo; Dehui Zhao; Chao Xu; Haoran Sun; Qianlong Yang; Qianqian Wei; Huazhe Si; Kaiying Wang; Tietao Zhang

doi:10.3390/ani12151950

Effect of Methionine Supplementation on Serum Metabolism and the Rumen Bacterial Community of Sika Deer (Cervus nippon)

Animals (Basel). 2022 Jul 31;12(15):1950. doi: 10.3390/ani12151950.

Authors

Yan Wu¹, Xiaolan Guo¹, Dehui Zhao^{1

2}, Chao Xu¹, Haoran Sun¹, Qianlong Yang¹, Qianqian Wei¹, Huazhe Si³, Kaiying Wang^{1

4}, Tietao Zhang¹

Affiliations

¹ Jilin Key Laboratory for Molecular Biology of Special Economic Animals, Institute of Special Animal and Plant Sciences, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Changchun 130112, China.
² College of Animal Science and Technology, Hebei Normal University of Science and Technology, Qinhuangdao 066004, China.
³ College of Animal Science and Technology, Jilin Agricultural University, Changchun 130118, China.
⁴ Jilin Special Animal Feeding and Comprehensive Utilization of Science and Technology Innovation Center, Institute of Special Animal and Plant Sciences, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Changchun 130112, China.

Abstract

Methionine is the first or second limiting amino acid for ruminants, such as sika deer, and has a variety of biological functions such as antioxidant activity, immune response, and protein synthesis. This study aimed to investigate the effects of methionine supplementation on antler growth, serum biochemistry, rumen fermentation, and the bacterial community of sika deer during the antler-growing period. Twelve 4-year-old male sika deer were randomly assigned to three dietary groups supplemented with 0 g/day (n = 4, CON), 4.0 g/day (n = 4, LMet), and 6.0 g/day (n = 4, HMet) methionine. No significant difference (p > 0.05) was found in the production performance between the three groups, but antler weight was higher in both the LMet and HMet groups than in the CON group. Methionine supplementation significantly increased the serum glutathione peroxidase activity (p < 0.05). The serum immunoglobulin G level was significantly higher in the HMet group than in the other two groups (p < 0.05). No significant effect was found on the apparent amino acid digestibility of the three groups, but cysteine and methionine digestibility were higher in the LMet group. The serum hydroxylysine level was significantly lower in the LMet and HMet groups, whereas the serum lysine level was significantly lower in the HMet group compared with the CON group (p < 0.05). The LMet group had the highest but a nonsignificant total volatile fatty acid content and significantly higher microbial protein content in the rumen than the CON group (p < 0.05). The phyla Bacteroidetes, Firmicutes, and Proteobacteria were dominant in the rumen of the sika deer. The principal coordinate analysis (PCoA) and analysis of similarities (ANOSIM) results showed a significant change in the bacterial composition of the three groups (p < 0.05). The relative abundance of Prevotella and Rikenellaceae-RC9 was significantly higher in the LMet group compared with the CON group and CON and HMet groups, respectively. These results revealed that methionine supplementation improved the antioxidant activity and immune status, affecting amino acid metabolism and rumen microbial composition of the sika deer.

Keywords: glutathione peroxidase; methionine; rumen bacteria; ruminal fermentation; sika deer.

Grants and funding

This research was funded by Jilin Province Key Scientific and Technological Research Projects (20170204041NY), and the Science and Technology Innovation Project of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (number CCCS-ASTIP-2022-ISAPS).