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. 2022 May 20:13:844968.
doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2022.844968. eCollection 2022.

Metagenomic and Metabolomic Insights Into the Mechanism Underlying the Disparity in Milk Yield of Holstein Cows

Abdulmumini B Amin  1   2   3 , Lei Zhang  1   2 , JiYou Zhang  1   2 , Shengyong Mao  1   2
Affiliations

Metagenomic and Metabolomic Insights Into the Mechanism Underlying the Disparity in Milk Yield of Holstein Cows

Abdulmumini B Amin et al. Front Microbiol. .

Abstract

This study was conducted to investigate the metabolic mechanism underlying the disparity in the milk yield of Holstein cows. Eighteen lactating Holstein cows in their second parity and 56 (±14.81 SD) days in milking (DIM) were selected from 94 cows. Based on the milk yield of the cows, they were divided into two groups of nine cows each, the high milk yield group (HP) (44.57 ± 2.11 kg/day) and the low milk yield group (LP) (26.71 ± 0.70 kg/day). The experimental cows were fed the same diet and kept under the same management system for more than 60 days. Rumen metagenomics revealed that two Archaea genera, one Bacteria genus, eight Eukaryota genera, and two Virus genera differ between the HP and LP groups. The analysis of metabolites in the rumen fluid, milk, and serum showed that several metabolites differed between the HP and LP groups. Correlation analysis between the predominant microbiota and milk yield-associated metabolites (MP-metabolites) revealed that four Bacteria and two Eukaryota genera have a positive relationship with MP-metabolites. Pathway enrichment analysis of the differential metabolites revealed that five pathways were enriched in all the samples (two pathways in the milk, two pathways in the serum, and one pathway in the rumen fluid). Further investigation revealed that the low milk yield observed in the LP group might be due to an upregulation in dopamine levels in the rumen fluid and milk, which could inhibit the release of prolactin or suppress the action of oxytocin in the udder resulting in reduced milk yield. On the other hand, the high milk yield in the HP group is attributed to an upregulation in citrulline, and N-acetylornithine, which could be used as substrates for energy metabolism in the citric acid cycle and ultimately gluconeogenesis.

Keywords: Holstein cow; citric acid cycle; metabolomics; milk yield; rumen metagenomics.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
(A) Percentage of milk components of cows in the HP and LP groups. (B) The yield of milk components of cows in the HP and LP groups. (C) Average weight of cows in the HP and LP groups. (D) Somatic cell count in the HP and LP groups. (E) The average DMI of cows in the HP and LP groups. ns: indicates not significant (p > 0.05), **indicates significant difference (p < 0.01).
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
(A) Relative abundance of differential Eukaryota genera (P < 0.05, LDA > 2) in the HP and LP groups. (B) Relative abundance of differential Eukaryota phylum (P < 0.05, LDA > 2) in the HP and LP groups. (C) Relative abundance of differential Virus genera (P < 0.05, LDA > 2) in the HP and LP groups. (D) Relative abundance of differential Archaea genera (P < 0.05, LDA > 2) in the HP and LP groups. (E) Relative abundance of differential Bacteria genus (P < 0.05, LDA > 2) in the HP and LP groups. *indicates significant difference (p < 0.05), **indicates significant difference (p < 0.01).
FIGURE 3
FIGURE 3
Linear discriminant analysis effect size plot of differential microbial genera (P < 0.05, LDA > 2) in the HP and LP groups.
FIGURE 4
FIGURE 4
(A) Linear discriminant analysis effect size plot of differential CAZymes (P < 0.05, LDA > 2) in the HP and LP groups. (B) LefSe plot of differential KEGG genes (P < 0.05, LDA > 2) in the HP and LP groups. (C) LefSe plot of differential KEGG pathways (P < 0.05, LDA > 2) in the HP and LP groups.
FIGURE 5
FIGURE 5
(A) Fold change (HP/LP) of significantly different (VIP > 1, FDR < 0.05) serum metabolites between the HP and LP cows. (B) The metabolic pathway impacted by serum metabolites in the HP and LP cows. (C) Fold change (HP/LP) of significantly different (VIP > 1, P < 0.05) milk metabolites between HP and LP cows. (D) The metabolic pathway impacted by milk metabolites in the HP and LP cows. (E) Fold change (HP/LP) of significantly different (VIP > 1, P < 0.05) rumen metabolites between the HP and LP cows. (F) The metabolic pathway impacted the rumen metabolites between the HP and LP cows. In the metabolic pathways, the bigger the circle, the higher the pathway impact, while the darker the color, the greater the changes in the metabolites in the corresponding pathway.
FIGURE 6
FIGURE 6
Network of significant correlation (R > 0.6/R < –0.6, P < 0.05) between the predominant rumen microbiota and MP-metabolites.
FIGURE 7
FIGURE 7
Schematics of the metabolic mechanism underlying the disparity in milk yield between the HP and LP groups. This figure was created using Biorender.com.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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