The 9th International Conference on Agricultural and Biological Sciences (ABS 2023)

Abstract: Improving the nutrient value of feedstuff using characterized novel microbial fermentation Julang Lia*, Nadeem Akhtara, Nanshan Qiab, Elijah G. Kiariea aDepartment of Animal Biosciences, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, Canada. bInstitute of Animal Health, Guangdong Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Guangzhou, Guangdong, P.R. China Dietary protein is one of the most expensive nutrients in feed. The rising feed cost, and the increased human consumption of plant-based food which competes for protein with the animal together have posed challenges to high-quality protein supply for animal production. These call for using innovative feed processing technologies to improve feed nutrient value to sustain the livestock industry. We aimed to use a fermentation approach to improve the feed nutrient value. We have screened from different sources and identified bacterial strains that secrete cellulase, xylanase and proteinase as candidates for feedstuff fermentation. Further studies revealed that a few of them are capable of breakdown glycinin and beta-conglycinin, the major proteins in SBM that are difficult to digest and often result in intestinal upset in monogastric animals. Molecular characterization revealed that isolate 9 is a Bacillus subtilis strain (B. subtilis 9) that secreted high levels of cellulase, xylanase, and proteinase compared to the ATCC control strain and other isolates. It grew significantly faster than the control strain. In addition, it also survived a wide range of concentrations salts and pH. When used for SBM fermentation, protein profiling of fermented SBM revealed a significant reduction of high molecular weight proteins, especially those of glycinin and beta-conglycinin, to small peptides. On a dry matter basis, neutral detergent fibre (NDF) of the fermented SBM was decreased by 34%; crude protein content was increased from 49 to 57%. Pigs fed with a diet formulated with the fermented SBM as the sole source of crude protein had significantly higher apparent ileal digestibility (AID) of dry matter, ash, crude protein, NDF, and acid detergent fibre compared with the control pigs fed with unfermented soybean meal.

Biography: Dr. Julang Li is a Professor at the Department of Animal BioSciences, University of Guelph, Canada. Her research program has been/was supported by NSERC, CIHR, OMAFRA, AAFC, Ontario Pork, and Premier's Research Excellence Award during the past twenty years. She has published over 80 refereed papers and serves on the editorial board and associate editor of multiple journals. One of Dr. Li's research programs focuses on using biotechnology to improve animal health and production performance. Her laboratory has generated recombinant antimicrobial peptides (AMP) that confer resistance to bacterial infection. The team has also been actively working on modifications of the domains of AMPs to improve their antimicrobial efficiency and stability. Li’s group is currently working on the characterization of novel probiotics and using a fermentation approach to improve feed value.