RUMEN PROTOZOA OF STEERS RAISED ON TROPICAL PASTURE DURING DRY SEASON

Authors

  • Kellerson Luiz Silva Instituto de Ciências Agrárias da Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais
  • Eduardo Robson Duarte Instituto de Ciências Agrárias da Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais
  • Claudio Eduardo Silva Freitas Instituto de Ciências Agrárias da Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais
  • Flávia Oliveira Abrão Doutoranda Escola de Veterinária da Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais
  • Luciana Castro Geraseev Instituto de Ciências Agrárias da Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5216/cab.v15i3.17714

Keywords:

Cattle, animal nutrition

Abstract

Protozoa of the rumen can represent 40% of total nitrogen and 60% of the final product of fermentation and it has cellulolytic activity. This study aimed to quantify and identify the ruminal protozoa populations from steers, raised exclusively on pastures during the dry season in the north of Minas Gerais, Brazil. Samples of ruminal fluid of 36 Nellore steers were collected directly from the rumen immediately after slaughter, during the early, middle or end of the dry season. For protozoa conservation, 1 mL of ruminal fluid was diluted in 9 mL of 10 % formaldehydes solution. Decimal dilutions were made in saline and the counting of small, medium and large protozoa was performed in Sedgewick Rafter chamber. The protozoa concentrations were transformed into log10 (x +1), subjected to variance analysis and the means were compared with Duncan test. The genus frequencies were compared with chi-square test. The concentration average of the total and of small and medium protozoa declined significantly over the course of the dry season; however, alterations in large protozoa concentrations were not detected over the three periods evaluated. A total of 7749 protozoa were identified, belonging to 17 different genera. Charonina spp. and Entodinium spp. had the highest occurrence during the three periods of dry season (P <0.05), suggesting the participation of these ciliates in rumen cattle fed exclusively on tropical pasture during this season.

KEYWORDS: Cattle, nutrition, protozoa, ruminal juice, semiarid.

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Author Biography

Eduardo Robson Duarte, Instituto de Ciências Agrárias da Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais

Médico Veterinário, Doutor em Ciências Biológicas,

Professor de Microbiologia e Parasitologia no Curso de Zootecnia de UFMG.

Prof do Mestrado em Ciências Agrárias da UFMG

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Published

2014-09-27

How to Cite

SILVA, K. L.; DUARTE, E. R.; FREITAS, C. E. S.; ABRÃO, F. O.; GERASEEV, L. C. RUMEN PROTOZOA OF STEERS RAISED ON TROPICAL PASTURE DURING DRY SEASON. Brazilian Animal Science/ Ciência Animal Brasileira, Goiânia, v. 15, n. 3, p. 259–265, 2014. DOI: 10.5216/cab.v15i3.17714. Disponível em: https://revistas.ufg.br/vet/article/view/17714. Acesso em: 21 may. 2024.

Issue

Vol. 15 No. 3 (2014)

Section

Animal Production

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