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PHOTO: ALLTECH


GUT HEAL ▶▶▶TH


Microbial diversity for ruminants


The gut plays a critical role in health and wellbeing and accommodates a vastly complex community of micro-organisms. Inoculation occurs immediately after birth, with diversity and complexity increasing until it has reached a relatively steady state. This diversity is crucial to the gut’s function as a protective barrier and provides resistance to colonisation of pathogenic organisms while having beneficial effects on the immune function.


BY DR HELEN WARREN, EUROPEAN TECHNICAL MANAGER RUMINANTS, ALLTECH T


he ruminant has a digestive strategy that relies on an intimate relationship with various micro-organ- isms and, as such, can utilise feedstuffs that other animals cannot. Mammals have little-to-no ability to


degrade fibrous plant material. But, bacteria, protozoa and fungi produce cellulases, a group of enzymes that are able to breakdown cellulose and other, related polysaccharides found in plant cell wall material. The ruminant foregut houses an ecosystem of these anaerobic microbes that allows rumi- nants to obtain nutrients from not only fibrous plant-based material but also the microbes themselves. This strategy al- lows ruminant agriculture to produce human-edible product from human-inedible feed (i.e., forage).


General gut physiology The gastrointestinal (GI) tract is the primary site of nutrient absorption and digestion. It is also the largest endocrine or- gan of the body. However, the epithelial lining is only a single layer of cells that, together, absorb nutrients, provide a barrier protecting internal tissues and produce protective mucin and antimicrobial compounds. The intestinal epithelium consists of villi (Figure 1), finger-like projections into the gut lumen, that greatly increase the surface area available for absorption. The epithelial layer consists of several different types of cells, which, together, influence gut integrity and defence against pathogens. The primary absorptive cells, enterocytes, are the most abundant and these are covered in microvilli. They se- crete antimicrobial proteins with activity against bacteria, fungi and protozoa. Enterocytes are tightly packed together


14 ▶ ALL ABOUT FEED | Volume 28, No. 8, 2020


via ‘tight junctions’ to form a physical barrier which prevents unfettered access of fluid, bacteria and other substances into the body system. If the tight junctions are defective, the gut becomes more permeable, and the term ‘leaky gut’ is used to describe a condition associated with diarrhoea and poor growth. Goblet cells are also present in the epithelium and thse produce mucins, proteins that form the protective mu- cus barrier over the gut surface. At the bottom of the villi crypts are Paneth cells that generate antimicrobial materials and these play an important role in immune defence. In addi- tion to the distinct cell types comprising the epithelium, an entire ecosystem of microbes − termed the gut microbiota − resides within the GI tract. This microbial community within the gut is involved in pathogen control, immune function, nutrient provision and intestinal morphology.


Figure 1. Illustration of a villus found in the gut.


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