Exploring the rumen microbiota of Hu lambs in response to diet with paper mulberry

Paper mulberry (Broussonetia papyrifera), as a new woody forage with high-protein characteristic, is being widely used in ruminant feeding. However, little is known about the comprehensive microbiota picture of whole ruminal niches (liquid, solid, and epithelium) under paper mulberry diet. To gain a better understanding of feeding paper mulberry on the rumen microbiota, the effects of fresh paper mulberry, paper mulberry silage, or a conventional high-protein alfalfa silage on rumen fermentation products and microbiota in rumen niches of Hu lambs were studied. Forty-five Hu lambs were randomly divided into 3 treatments with 15 replicates in each treatment. No significant difference was observed among treatments in the average daily gain (ADG). The fresh paper mulberry treatment had lower (P < 0.05) pH and higher (P < 0.05) total volatile fatty acids (TVFA) compared with silage treatments, but the fermentation parameters did not show significant differences between paper mulberry silage and alfalfa silage treatments. The Shannon index did not show a significant difference (P < 0.05) among treatments except between fresh paper mulberry and alfalfa silage treatment in rumen epithelial niches. Butyrivibrio and Treponema were the predominant genera in the rumen epithelial fraction, while Prevotella and Rikenellaceae_RC9 dominated in both rumen liquid and solid fractions. These results indicated the paper mulberry supplement did not have distinct impact on the microbial diversity and growth performance compared with alfalfa silage, especially for paper mulberry silage, which might help us develop an alternative animal feeding strategy of replacing alfalfa with paper mulberry.