Microbiome and fermentation parameters in the rumen of dairy buffalo in response to ingestion associated with a diet supplemented with cysteamine and hemp seed oil.

In this study, high-throughput gene amplicon sequencing was used to investigate the effects of 6 treatments [2 levels of hemp seed oil (HSO) × 3 levels of cysteamine (CS)] on bacterial and fungal communities in the rumen of 30 crossbred dairy buffalo. Our results indicate that the total numbers of bacterial and fungal taxa were unaffected regardless of diet (p > 0.05), while the total number of archaea was affected (p < 0.05) by the interaction of HSO and CS. Compared with control treatment, microbial composition of archaea was strongly influenced by CS (p < 0.05), while the addition of HSO, CS or both had a weak effect on fungus and bacteria. In addition, there was a significant increase in the lactic acid content with the addition of HSO, and the addition of CS to the feed caused a significant decrease in the ratio of acetic acid to propionic acid, compared with control treatment (p < 0.05). Correlation analysis showed that Acetobacter was significantly positively correlated with the genera Pichia, Klebsiella and Acinetobacter. pH was found to have a significant effect on the methanogens, and total volatile fatty acids (VFA) had a strong correlation with Butyrivibrio. The strong influence of CS on some methanogens shows that it may have potential in the development of methane reduction interventions.