Effects of Transportation on Blood Indices, Oxidative Stress, Rumen Fermentation Parameters and Rumen Microbiota in Goats

Abstract

The objective of this experiment was to delve into the impacts of transportation on goats. Sixteen healthy goats were selected as experimental animals; these goats were transported at a speed ranging from 35 to 45 km/h for 20 h. The changes in the physiological indexes, blood physiological indexes, biochemical indexes, rumen fermentation indexes, and rumen microbial structure composition of goats before and after transportation were measured. The results showed that after transportation, the contents of IgM, IgA, IgG, and Thyroxine decreased very significantly, while the contents of propionic acid, Hemoglobin and Epinephrine significantly increased, and the contents of VFA, acetic acid, butyric acid, isobutyric acid, isovaleric acid, LPS, IL-1β, IL-6, TNF-α, Major Acute Phase Protein, protein carbonyl, and cortisol increased very significantly. There was no significant difference in α-diversity and β-diversity, and the relative abundance of rumen microorganisms was not significantly different at either phylum or genus levels. The experimental findings revealed that continuous transportation for a duration of 20 h can induce a severe stress response in goats, leading to compromised immune function, diminished antioxidant capacity, escalated inflammatory response, and altered rumen fermentation indices. However, the experiment did not reveal any significant impact on the structure and composition of the rumen microbiota.

Keywords: goats; rumen fermentation; rumen microbiota; transport stress.

Figure 1

The Venn plot of ASV.

Figure 2

Analysis of microbial alpha diversity between groups. The read color means before transportation and the blue color means after transportation. BT: before transportation; AT: after transportation; (a) is the comparison of Simpson index, (b) is the comparison of Dominance index, (c) is the comparison of Chao 1 index, (d) is the comparison of Observed otus index, (e) is the comparison of Pielou_e index, (f) is the result of Shannon index.

Figure 3

PCoA map of rumen microorganisms.BT: before transportation; AT: after transportation; Read line: before transportation; Blue line: after transportation.

Figure 4

The species composition of the dominant microbiota at the phylum level (Top 10).

Figure 5

The species composition of the dominant microbiota at the genus level (top 10).