Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-s2hrs Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-05T14:53:48.918Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Nitrogen metabolism in the ovine stomach: 2. Factors influencing ruminal ammonia levels in sheep maintained on different diets

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 March 2009

C. J. F. Harrop
C. J. F. Harrop
Affiliation:
Department of Veterinary Clinical Studies, School of Veterinary Medicine, Madingley Road, Cambridge
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

Factors which could be expected to influence levels of ammonia in the rumen were compared in sheep maintained on diets providing 11·4 or 20·7 g N/day.

The ruminal fluid volume in sheep given the lower-N ration was 78% of that in sheep maintained on the higher-N diet. The effect of this in diluting rumen ammonia from recycled urea is discussed.

Ruminal urease activity was higher in sheep given the lower-N diet, and was confined to the particulate fraction of rumen liquor in animals given either diet. At least 95% of the maximum activity occurred in the range of pH 5·4–7·05, and pH 6·0–7·25 in sheep maintained on the lower- and higher-N diets respectively. Small variations in activity were observed between the morning and evening meals.

In vitro rates of net ammonia production in samples of rumen liquor were similar in sheep given either diet; a positive correlation with the initial ammonia concentration was evident. Net utilization of ammonia was detected in some experiments in samples from sheep maintained on the lower-N diet. Starvation for 1 day was associated with increased rates of production and initial concentrations of ammonia.

Cellulose, as cotton thread, was digested at similar rates in vivo in sheep given the different diets. This is discussed in relation to the demand for ammonia by cellulolytic bacteria.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Journal of Agricultural Science , Volume 82 , Issue 3 , June 1974 , pp. 409 - 417
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1974

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Aoyagi, T., Engstrom, G. W., Evans, W. B. & Summerskill, W. H. J. (1966). Gastrointestinal urease in man. I. Activity of mucosal urease. Out 7, 631–5.Google Scholar
Balch, C. C. & Johnson, V. W. (1950). Factors affecting the utilization of food by dairy cows. British Journal of Nutrition 4, 389–94.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bryant, M. P. (1961). The nitrogen metabolism of pure cultures of ruminal bacteria. Proceedings of the Ruminant Nutrition Conference, April 1961, pp. 44–92. United States Department of Agriculture, reprint. Agricultural Research Service.Google Scholar
Clifford, A. J., Bourdette, J. R. & Tillman, A. D. (1968). Studies on ruminal urease activity. Journal of Animal Science 27, 814–17.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cocimano, M. R. & Leng, R. A. (1967). Metabolism of urea in sheep. British Journal of Nutrition 21, 353–71.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Conway, E. J. (1957). Microdiffusion Analysis and Volumetric Error. London: Crosby Lockwood and Son Ltd.Google Scholar
Egan, A. R. (1965). The fate and effects of duodenally infused casein and urea nitrogen in sheep fed on a low-protein roughage. Australian Journal of Agricultural Research 16, 169–77.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
El-Shazly, K., Dehority, B. A. & Johnson, R. R. (1961). Effects of starch on the digestion of cellulose in vitro and in vivo by rumen microorganisms. Journal of Animal Science 20, 268–73.Google Scholar
Harrop, C. J. F. & Phillipson, A. T. (1974). Nitrogen metabolism in the ovine stomach. 1. The transfer of urea from the blood to the rumen. Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge 82, 399–408.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hogan, J. P. (1961). The absorption of ammonia through the rumen of the sheep. Australian Journal of Biological Science 14, 448–60.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Houpt, T. R. & Houpt, K. A. (1968). Transfer of urea nitrogen across the rumen wall. American Journal of Physiology 214, 1296–1303.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hydén, S. (1955). A turbidimetric method for the determination of higher polyethylene glycols in biological materials. Kungliga Lantbrukshögskolans Annales 22, 139–45.Google Scholar
Hydén, S. (1961). Determination of the amount of fluid in the reticulo-rumen of the sheep and its rate of passage to the omasum. Kungliga Lantbrukshögskolans Annales 27, 51–79.Google Scholar
Jones, G. A., Macleod, R. A. & Blackwood, A. C. (1964). Ureolytic rumen bacteria. I. Characteristics of the microflora from a urea-fed sheep. Canadian Journal of Microbiology 10, 371–8.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Little, C. O., Burroughs, W. & Woods, W. (1963). Nutritional significance of soluble nitrogen in dietary proteins for ruminants. Journal of Animal Science 22, 358–63.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mackay, E. S. M. & Oxford, A. E. (1954). Some facultatively anaerobic gram-negative rods from the rumen of the calf and the sheep. Journal of General Microbiology 11, 472–6.Google ScholarPubMed
Muhrer, M. E. & Carroll, E. J. (1964). Urea utilizing microorganisms in the rumen. Journal of Animal Science 23, 885.Google Scholar
Nolan, J. V. & Leng, R. A. (1972). Dynamic aspects of ammonia and urea metabolism in sheep. British Journal of Nutrition 27, 177–94.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Pearson, R. M. & Smith, J. A. B. (1943). The utilization of urea in the bovine rumen. 2. The conversion of urea to ammonia. Biochemical Journal 37, 148–53.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Phillipson, A. T., Dobson, M. J., Blackburn, T. H. & Brown, M. (1962). The assimilation of ammonia nitrogen by bacteria of the rumen of sheep. British Journal of Nutrition 16, 151–66.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rahman, S. A. & Decker, P. (1966). Comparative study of the urease in the rumen wall and rumen content. Nature, London 209, 618–19.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Snedecor, G. W. & Cochran, W. G. (1967). Statistical Methods. Ames, Iowa: bIowa State University Press.Google Scholar
Vogel, A. I. (1953). A Text-Book of Quantitative Inorganicx Analysis, 2nd edition, p. 869. London: Longmans, Green and Co.Google Scholar
Warner, A. C. I. & Stacy, B. D. (1968). The fate of water in the rumen. 2. Water balances throughout the feeding cycle in sheep. British Journal of Nutrition 22, 389–410.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Weston, K. H. & Hogan, J. P. (1967). The transfer of nitrogen from the blood to the rumen in sheep. Australian Journal of Biological Science 20, 967–73.CrossRefGoogle Scholar