PSIV-10 - Effect of dietary inclusion of fertilized and unfertilized sericea lespedeza hay on performance and plasma metabolome of naturally infected goats

Tuesday, July 18, 2023

12:00 PM – 1:15 PM MT

Location: 140 Aztec/110 Galisteo

Presenting Author(s)

TO

Terra Odom

Undergraduate student
Fort Valley State University
Fort Valley, Georgia, United States

Author(s)

DB

Davia Brown

Undergraduate student
Fort Valley State University
Fort Valley, Georgia, United States
CP

Chelsea Pulsifer

graduate student
Fort Valley State University
Fort Valley, Georgia, United States
Thomas H. Terrill

Professor
Fort Valley State University
Fort Valley, Georgia, United States
Niki C. Whitley

Professor
Fort Valley State University
Fort Valley, Georgia, United States
Zaira M. Estrada-Reyes

Professor
North Carolina A & T University
Greensboro, North Carolina, United States
IO

Ibukun M. Ogunade

Professor
West Virginia University
Morgantown, West Virginia, United States
Godstime A. Taiwo

Graduate Assistant
West Virginia University
MORGANTOWN, West Virginia, United States
Modoluwamu Idowu

Graduate Research Assistant
West Virginia University
Morgantown, West Virginia, United States

Abstract: This study was conducted to evaluate the effect of the dietary inclusion of unfertilized (AS) and fertilized (AR) sericea lespedeza (Lespedeza cuneata) hay on body weight, average daily gain, and plasma metabolome of goats. Thirty-six naturally parasite-infected ( >5000 eggs/gram) 9-month-old intact male Spanish goats (23.9 ± 0.15 kg) were randomly allocated (12 goats per treatment) into three dietary treatments: a) Control (bermudagrass hay), AS (unfertilized lespedeza), and AR (fertilized lespedeza) for a 60-day pen feeding trial. All treatments were supplemented with a commercial concentrate following a 70:30 forage:concentrate ratio. Feed samples, blood samples, and body weight (BW) were collected and recorded weekly to estimate chemical composition, initial and final BW, and average daily gain (ADG). Metabolome analysis of the plasma samples was performed using a chemical isotope labelling/liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry-based technique. Pathway enrichment analysis and analysis of the differentially abundant metabolites were performed using MetaboAnalyst 5.0 software. All other data were analyzed following the GLIMMIX procedure (repeated measures) of SAS, with the fixed effect of treatment, week, and the random effect of animals. Chemical composition revealed higher (P ≤ 0.05) CP (15.6 vs. 12%) and NDF (50 vs. 40.8%) in AR hay compared to AS hay. Compared to the control, dietary AR increased (P < 0.05) final BW (30.1 vs. 27.3 kg) and ADG (130.2 vs. 84.5 g/d) in parasite-infected goats. Compared to the control, nitrogen metabolism was enriched (P ≤ 0.05) in AR and AS goats. Compared to AR, the lysine degradation pathway was enriched in AS (P = 7.51 x 10^-6) animals. Moreover, the relative concentration of β-leucine was greater (P < 0.05) in goats on the AR diet compared to the control. Results from this research suggest that both AS and AR sericea lespedeza increased nitrogen metabolism in parasite-infected goats. However, dietary AR hay reduced lysine degradation or increased plasma β-leucine concentration compared to AS and the control, respectively. In conclusion, dietary AR lespedeza hay improved the growth performance of parasite-infected meat goats by preventing amino acid degradation and increasing leucine availability, which may help promote muscle regeneration.