Tao Ma

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Verified

Tao verified their affiliation via an institutional email.

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• PhD
• Professor (Associate) at Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences

This study aimed to investigate the relationship between microbial N (MN) yield and urinary excretion of purine derivatives (PD) from the rumen in Dorper x thin-tailed Han crossbred sheep. Twelve Dorper x thin-tailed Han crossbred, non-castrated male lambs (41.3 +/- 2.8 kg body weight) fitted with ruminal and duodenal cannulae were randomly assigne...

This study aimed to investigate dietary concentrate: forage ratios (C:F) and undegraded dietary protein (UDP) on nitrogen balance and urinary excretion of purine derivatives (PD) in lambs. Four Dorper×thin-tailed Han crossbred castrated lambs with 62.3±1.9 kg body weight at 10 months of age were randomly assigned to four dietary treatments in a 2×2...

This study aimed to determine the energy requirements of Dorper crossbred sheep that have been used for meat production in China. Thirty-five 1/2 Dorper×1/2 thin-tailed Han crossbred noncastrated ram lambs [34.1±0.6 kg body weight (BW)] were used in a comparative slaughter trial. Seven ram lambs were randomly selected as the baseline group and slau...

We investigated the metabolizable protein (MP) supply in lambs at different levels of feed intake. Twelve Dorper×thin-tailed Han crossbred ram lambs (41.3 ± 2.8kg body weight) fitted with ruminal and duodenal cannulae were randomly assigned to one of three levels (n=4 lambs each) of dry matter intake: ad libitum (AL) intake and 70% or 50% of AL int...

The ME and NE requirements of Dorper crossbred ewe lambs grown from 35 to 50 kg BW were assessed in a comparative slaughter trial. Thirty-five ewe lambs (33.5 ± 0.6 kg BW) of F1 crosses of purebred Dorper and thin-tailed Han sheep were used: 7 lambs were slaughtered at the start of the trial to provide baseline measures of body composition and 7 la...

This study aimed to reveal the effect of traditional Chinese herbal medicine residues (TCHMR) on growth performance, hematology, ruminal microbiota, and economic benefits of Guizhou black male goats through the fermented total mixed ration (FTMR) diet technique. A total of 22 Guizhou black male goats with an initial weight of 21.77 ± 0.85 kg were r...

Background The rumen microbiome plays an essential role in maintaining ruminants’ growth and performance even under extreme environmental conditions, however, which factors influence rumen microbiome stability when ruminants are reared in such habitats throughout the year is unclear. Hence, the rumen microbiome of yak (less domesticated) and cattle...

Introduction The Hainan Dong goat (DG) is a local meat breed widely raised in Hainan, China because of its good adaptability to local hot and humid weather. However, the growth rate of these DG is much slower than that of commercialised breeds improved in European countries, resulting in poor carcase characteristics, including smaller slaughter wei...

The rumen microbiome plays an important role in providing energy and protein to the host. Manipulation of rumen microbiome during early life may have a long-term beneficial effect on the health, growth performance, and feed efficiency of ruminants. To better understand the profiles and functional potentials of rumen microbiome in young ruminants, m...

Accurate taxonomic classification is essential to understanding microbial diversity and function through metagenomic sequencing. However, this task is complicated by the vast variety of microbial genomes and the computational limitations of bioinformatics tools. The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of reference database selection and co...

Newborn goat kids exposed to environmental stress are susceptible to diarrhea due to immature intestinal functions and undeveloped gut microbiota. Butyrate-producing bacteria as next generation probiotics benefit the maintenance of intestinal health, but the mode of regulation is still unclear. Herein, a novel butyrate-producing strain was isolated...

Inhibition of methyl-coenzyme M reductase can suppress the activity of ruminal methanogens, thereby reducing enteric methane emissions of ruminants. However , developing specific and environmentally friendly inhibitors is a challenging endeavor. To identify a natural and effective methane inhibitor that specifically targets methyl-coenzyme M reduct...

Perturbations and modulations during early life are vital to affect gut microbiome assembly and establishment. In this study, we assessed how microbial communities shifted during calf diarrhea and with probiotic yeast supplementation (Saccharomyces cerevisiae var. boulardii, SCB) and determined the key bacterial taxa contributing to the microbial a...

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of feed ingredients with different protein-to-fat ratios on growth, slaughter performance and meat quality of Small-Tail Han lambs. Forty-five Small-Tail Han lambs (♂) (BW = 34.00 ± 2.5 kg, age = 120 ± 9 d) were randomly divided into groups with three different experimental treatments: (1) PF...

This study aimed to investigate the effect of feeding level on the growth and slaughter performance, and allometric growth of tissues and organs in female growing dairy goats. The trial included 10–20 and 20–30 kg weight stages with 48 female goat kids. The 24 goat kids in each stage were divided into 8 blocks based on weight, with 3 kids per block...

The use of milk replacer (MR) is a modern strategy to ensure the health and growth of neonatal ruminants. Some studies have confirmed that dietary factors have significant effects on ruminal antimicrobial resistance genes (ARGs), which, as a potential threat to livestock, have received more attention. However, the effect of different milk sources (...

Direct-fed microbials (DFMs) are defined as feed products containing the source of naturally existing microbes, which are considered as one of the promising alternatives to prophylactic antibiotics used in food-producing animals. The gastrointestinal tract (GIT) of animals harbors a complicated microbial ecosystem with a tremendous number of specie...

The purpose of this experiment was to evaluate changes in fermentation quality, chemical composition, aerobic stability, anti-nutritional factors, and in situ disappearance characteristics of various protein-based total mixed rations. Soybean meal (control, non-fermented), fermented cottonseed meal (F-CSM), and fermented rapeseed meal (F-RSM) group...

Colostrum contains nutrients, immunoglobulins, and various bioactive compounds such as microRNA (miRNA). Less is known about the temporal changes in miRNA profiles in ruminant milk samples during the first week postpartum. In this study, we characterized and compared the profiles of miRNA in the small extracellular vesicles (sEV) isolated from colo...

The goal of this study was to investigate Candida tropicalis as a kind of environmentally friendly dietary additive to manipulate ruminal fermentation patterns, reduce methane emissions and nitrogen excretion, and to screen the appropriate dose for sheep. Twenty-four Dorper × thin-tailed Han crossbred ewes (51.12 kg ± 2.23 kg BW) were selected and...

Background This study examined the effects of substituting cottonseed meal (CSM) or rapeseed meal (RSM) for soybean meal (SBM) on Hu sheep performance, rumen fermentation, and bacterial composition. 51 four-month-old indigenous male Hu sheep with starting body weights of 22.51 ± 2.84 kg and similar origins were randomly assigned to three treatments...

The health of young ruminants is highly dependent on early rumen microbial colonization. In this study, the effects of milk replacer on growth performance, rumen fermentation, and the rumen microflora in yak calves were evaluated. Sixty yak calves (body weight = 22.5 ± 0.95 kg, age = 30 ± 1 d) were assigned to the CON group (breastfed) or TRT group...

Brachyspira hyodysenteriae, an etiologic agent of swine dysentery (SD), is known for causing colitis. Although some aspects of colonic defenses during infection have been described previously, a more comprehensive picture of the host and microbiota interaction in clinically affected animals is required. This study aimed to characterize multiple asp...

Ruminant colostrum contains nutrients, immunoglobulins, and various bioactive compounds such as microRNAs (miRNAs). In addition, milk also serves as an important vehicle for bacteria, the profile of which can provide information about the health status of the dam and newborns. The objective of this study was to investigate the changes in bacterial...

The consumption of bovine colostrum by newborn calves during the first days of life is essential to ensure the transfer of passive immunity. In addition to critical IgG, colostrum also contains non-IgG biomolecules, including microRNA (miRNA). The present study investigated the profiles of miRNA in small extracellular vesicles (sEV) isolated from b...

Background The resistome describes the array of antibiotic resistant genes (ARGs) present within a microbial community. Recent research has documented the resistome in the rumen of ruminants and revealed that the type and abundance of ARGs could be affected by diet and/or antibiotic treatment. However, most of these studies only assessed ARGs using...

The study was conducted to evaluate the effects of Anemoside B4 on diarrhea incidence, serum indices, and fecal microbial of suckling calves. Sixty newborn Chinese Holstein calves with similar body weight (43.7 ± 3.9 kg) were randomly divided into four groups with 15 calves each, fed the diet which was supplied 0 (CON), 15 (A1), 30 (A2), and 45 (A3...

Rumen microbiota are closely linked to feed utilization and environmental adaptability of ruminants. At present, little is known about the influence of different extreme environments on the rumen microbiota of yaks. In this study, 30 ruminal fluid samples from 30 healthy female yaks (average 280 kg of BW) in 5–8 years of life were collected from th...

Liquid feed are the major nutrient source that can have a significant impact on the growth and development of immune system of calves before weaning. The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of different liquid feed on growth, immunity and gut health of dairy calves. A total of 24 Holstein male calves (43.4 ± 0.93 kg of body weight...

China has the world's largest sheep flock and the largest producer of sheep meat by far. However, the nutrient requirements have not been systemically studied and there is a lack of knowledge of nutrient requirement for meat-type sheep in China. The establishment of China Agricultural Research System in 2008 by the Ministry of Science and Technolog...

Antimicrobials have been widely used to prevent and treat infectious diseases and promote growth in food-production animals. However, the occurrence of antimicrobial resistance poses a huge threat to public and animal health, especially in less developed countries where food-producing animals often intermingle with humans. To limit the spread of an...

The nutritional management, health and welfare of the dairy calf has historically received less attention due to limited research, and recommendations largely focused on passive transfer of immunity and early weaning strategies. Gastrointestinal diseases and disorders remain the leading cause of mortality and morbidity in dairy calves worldwide. De...

Our objective was to evaluate the effect of colostrum feeding times on genome-wide gene expression of neonatal calves. In total, twenty-seven calves were assigned to three colostrum feeding treatments: within 45 min (TRT0h, n = 9), 6 h (TRT6h, n = 9) and 12 h (TRT12h, n = 9). Ileum tissues were collected at 51 h and transcriptomic analysis was cond...

The nutritional management, health and welfare of the dairy calf has historically received less attention due to limited research, and recommendations largely focused on passive transfer of immunity and early weaning strategies. Gastrointestinal diseases and disorders remain the leading cause of mortality and morbidity in dairy calves worldwide. De...

Branched-chain fatty acids (BCFA) have recently been reported to play a role in human gut health during early life. However, little information is available on the fecal BCFA profiles in young ruminants and whether they are associated with the development of neonatal calf diarrhea. The objectives of this study were to (1) characterize BCFA profiles...

The zoonotic enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli (EHEC) O157: H7 bacterium causes diarrhea, hemorrhagic colitis, and hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) in humans. Cattle are primary reservoirs and EHEC O157: H7; the bacteria predominately inhabit the colon and recto-anal junctions (RAJ). The early innate immune reactions in the infected gut are critica...

Background The development and maturation of rumen microbiota across the lifetime of grazing yaks remain unexplored due to the varied lifestyles and feed types of yaks as well as the challenges of obtaining samples. In addition, the interactions among four different rumen microbial groups (bacteria, archaea, fungi and protozoa) in the rumen of yak...

Colostrum feeding is vital for the development of the immune system and gastrointestinal tract in neonatal calves; however, it is currently unknown whether different colostrum feeding strategies affect their neuroendocrine system and potentially the gut–brain axis. The present study investigated the effect of 3 different colostrum feeding regimens...

Perturbations in early life gut microbiota can have long-term impacts on host health. In this study, we investigated antimicrobial-induced temporal changes in diversity, stability, and compositions of gut microbiota in neonatal veal calves, with the objective of identifying microbial markers that predict diarrhea. A total of 220 samples from 63 cal...

This study aimed to investigate the effect of resveratrol on methane production, rumen fermentation and microbial composition under high‐concentrate (HC) and high‐forage (HF) diets using the in vitro fermentation system. A total of 25 mg of resveratrol was supplemented into 300 mg of either HC or HF diet. Methane production, total volatile fatty ac...

The requirement of net protein (NP) and metabolizable protein (MP) by Dorper crossbred ewe lambs grown from 35 to 50 kg of body weight (BW) was assessed by comparative slaughter experiment. Thirty‐five ewe lambs (33.5 ± 0.6 kg BW) of F1 crosses of Dorper × thin‐tailed Han sheep were used: 7 lambs were slaughtered as reference animals at the start o...

Sixty neonatal Hu lambs were weaned at either 21 (n = 30) (early weaning, EW) or 49 days (n = 30) of age (control, CON). The starter intake and body weight (BW) of lambs was recorded weekly from birth to 63 days of age. Diarrhea rate of lambs was measured from birth to 35 days. Six randomly selected lambs from each treatment were slaughtered at 26,...

This study compared the growth performance, nutrient utilization, and slaughter traits of Dorper crossbred male lambs fed as per the established nutrition recommendations for sheep, with an aim to verify the efficacy of different feeding standards. A total of 576 lambs (4 months of age, 28.3 ± 0.86 kg BW) were randomly allotted to 3 treatments with...

The present study investigated whether delaying the first feeding of colostrum affected ileum and colon mucosa-associated microbiota in calves. Twenty-seven male Holstein calves were randomly assigned to one of three groups: fed colostrum at 45 min, 6 h and 12 h after birth, respectively. Ileum and colon mucosa were collected at 51 h after birth an...

The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of one specific strain of yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae boulardii CNCM I-1079 (SCB), on the growth performance, health, and fecal bacterial profile of veal calves. A total of 84 animals were enrolled in an experiment at a commercial veal farm for a total of 7 weeks. Calves were fed twice a...

Plant extracts can be used in calf feed as alternatives to antibiotics, but their effects on colonization of microbial populations remains to be determined. Thus, we evaluated the effects of dietary plant extracts on rumen fermentation parameters and rumen bacterial community in calves, and we followed them up to 9 months of age to determine the pe...

Objectives: The current study analysed the relationships between methane (CH4) output from animal and dietary factors. Methods: The dataset was obtained from 159 Dorper × thin-tailed Han lambs from our seven studies, and CH4 production and energy metabolism data were measured in vivo by an open-circuit respiratory method. All lambs were confined...

This study aimed to identify the effect of supplementing Saccharomyces cerevisiae boulardii CNCM I-1079 (SB) in milk replacer on the fecal bacterial composition of veal calves. Veal calves (6 d ± 3 d of age, n = 84) were randomly assigned to two treatments: CON (no SB; n = 42 calves) and SB (n = 42 calves). From the first day of arrival, SB was add...

Prophylactic antimicrobials have been widely used in food animal production with the aim to prevent infectious diseases, enhance feed efficiency, and promote growth. However, the extensive use of antimicrobials in food animal production systems has led to the emergence of antimicrobial resistant pathogens, which are potential threats to human and a...

The present study aimed to investigate the compensatory effect of early protein restriction followed by a realimentation on growth performance of lamb and to explore the transcriptomic changes in liver. Thirty-two lambs with an initial birth weight of 2.3 ± 0.20 kg that were weaned on day 15 were randomly divided into two groups. The lambs were fed...

Cluster of orthologous group (COG) classification of identified proteins. (DOCX)

Generation of iTRAQ data. (DOCX)

Protein-protein interaction network from a web-based search of the STRING Database. (PPTX)

MGI phenotype annotations using different expressed proteins. (XLSX)

The different expressed proteins of the intestine. (XLSX)

Repeatability analysis of biological replicates. (DOCX)

The identified proteins of the intestine stress. (XLSX)

Some bacterial preparations have been used as rumen methane (CH4) mitigants, but the effect of the spore-forming bacterium Bacillus licheniformis on ruminal methanogenesis is unknown. In this study, twenty-four Dorper crossbred wethers (45.0 ± 1.96 kg of body weight) were randomly assigned to 4 dietary treatments (6 animals/treatment): a basal diet...

Twelve pairs of male twin lambs were used to assess the effects of dietary methionine (Met) deficiency followed by replenishment on lamb growth performance and carcass characteristics. All lambs were weaned at 7 days of age and divided into the Control (CON) group and Met deficiency (MD) group. From 8 to 56 days of age, the lambs in the CON group w...

Background Dorper is an important breed for meat purpose and widely used in the livestock industry of the world. However, the protein requirement of Dorper crossbred has not been investigated. The current paper reports the net protein (NP) and metabolizable protein (MP) requirements of Dorper crossbred ram lambs from 20 to 35 kg BW. Methods Thirty...

We report the effects of a protein-restricted diet and realimentation with a milk replacer (MR) and starter on the growth, digestibility, fermentation, and expression of the genes involved in volatile fatty acid (VFA) absorption in the lamb ruminal epithelium. Sixteen newborn twin Hu lamb pairs were used. Each pair was fed the MR and starter with a...

To determine the effect of a weaning program on growth performance, nutrient digestibility, and serum parameters in Hu lambs, 48 newly born twin lambs (2.53 ± 0.13 kg; 24 male and 24 female) were randomly divided into four treatments: ewe reared (ER) or weaned at 10, 20, or 30 days post birth (EW10, EW20, and EW30) and fed milk replacer (MR). All l...

The net protein (NP) and metabolizable protein (MP) requirements of Dorper crossbred female lambs from 20 to 35 kg body weight (BW) were assessed in a comparative slaughter trial. Thirty-five Dorper×thin-tailed Han crossbred lambs weaned at approximately 50 d of age ((19.1±2.37) kg of BW) were used. Seven randomly selected lambs were slaughtered at...

The effects of flavonoids on methanogenesis and microbial flora in Dorper × thin-tailed Han crossbred ewes were evaluated in two experiments. To investigate the effects of flavonoids on nutrient digestibility and nitrogen balance, 18 ewes (60.0 ± 1.73 kg body weight (BW)) were allotted to two dietary treatments in experiment one, a control diet and...

The net protein (NP) and metabolizable protein (MP) requirements of Dorper crossbred ram lambs grown from 35 to 50 kg BW were assessed in a comparative slaughter trial. Thirty-five intact male lambs (34.1 ± 0.6 kg BW) of F1 crosses of Dorper × thin-tailed Han sheep were used: 7 lambs of 35 kg BW were slaughtered as the baseline animals at the start...

The mono-culture fungal inoculant of Phaerochaete chrysosporium (P. chrysosporium) and the co-culture fungal inoculants of P. chrysosporium and Aspergillius niger (A. niger) or Trichoderma viride (T. viride) were screened for their potential to increase the in situ fiber and crude protein digestibility of maize stalk in sheep. The milled maize stal...

To improve the silage quality and reduce the silage additive cost, the present experiment was designed to evaluate the potential of applying the fermented juice of epiphytic lactic acid bacteria (FJLB) as an additive in alfalfa silage. The effects of FJLB on the fermentation quality, carbohydrate and protein fractions, and aerobic stability of alfa...

Garlic extracts have been reported to be effective in reducing methanogenesis. Related mechanisms are not well illustrated, however, and most studies have been conducted in vitro. This study investigates the effects of supplementary allicin (AL) in sheep diet on in vivo digestibility, rumen fermentation, and shifts of microbial flora. Two experimen...

The effects of restricting iron intake for the final 60 days of a 180-day growth trial on growth performance, nutrient digestibility, slaughter performance and meat quality of dairy bull calves used in veal production were evaluated in this study. Twenty-four newborn Holstein bull calves with an average weight of 41.0 ± 1.62 kg were randomly assign...

The effects of previously fermented juice (PFJ) prepared from alfalfa and lactic acid bacteria (LAB) inoculants on the dynamic changes of nutritive components in ensiled alfalfa after various ensiling periods were investigated by using the Cornell Net Carbohydrate and Protein System. The third-cut alfalfa was harvested at the budding stage, exposed...

This study was conducted to evaluate the efficacy and safety of dietary urea in sheep rations having a 50:50 concentrate:roughage ratio. Sixty-four Dorper × thin-tailed Han crossbred ram lambs with an average body weight of 30.8 (±0.02) kg were randomly divided into four groups of 16 sheep each, and each group was fed one of the following diets: a...

This experiment was conducted to investigate the energy requirement of Dorper×thin-tailed Han crossbred ewes during non-pregnancy and lactation. Fifteen ewes after parturition were randomly assigned to three treatments: ad libitum (100%) feed intake and 80 or 60% ad libitum intake, and another nine non-pregnant ewes were assigned to a blank control...

This study aimed to investigate the effect of the ratio of non-fibrous carbohydrates to neutral detergent fibre (NFC/NDF) and undegraded dietary protein (UDP) on rumen fermentation and nitrogen metabolism in lambs. Four Dorper×thin-tailed Han crossbred lambs, averaging 62.3±1.9 kg of body weight and 10 mo of age, were randomly assigned to four diet...

The effect of long-term dietary supplementation with rutin on the lactation performance, ruminal fermentation and metabolism of dairy cows were investigated in this study. Twenty multiparous Chinese Holstein cows were randomly divided into four groups, and each was offered a basal diet supplemented with 0, 1.5, 3.0 or 4.5 mg rutin/kg of diet. The m...

This study aimed to investigate the effects of dietary supplementation of yeast β-glucan on the nutrient digestibility and serum profiles in pre-ruminant Holstein calves. Forty-two neonatal Holstein calves ((39.6±4.2) kg) were randomly allotted to six groups, and each was offered one of the following diets: a basal diet (control) or the basal diet...

This study aimed to investigate the effect of dietary supplementation with Lactobacillus plantarum and Bacillus subtilis on growth performance, apparent nutrient digestibility and stress-related indicators in dairy calves. Twenty-four neonatal Holstein calves were randomly allocated to three treatments: a basal diet with no supplementation (control...

Two experiments were conducted to evaluate the effect of resveratrol on methanogenesis and microbial flora in Dorper × thin-tailed Han cross-bred ewes. In experiment 1, ten ewes (67.2 ± 2.24 kg BW) were assigned to two dietary treatments, a basal diet and a basal diet supplemented with resveratrol (0.25 g/head·day), to investigate the effect of res...

A comparative slaughter trial was conducted to estimate the phosphorus (P) requirement for maintenance and growth of crossbred lambs of Dorper with a Chinese indigenous sheep breed, thin-tailed Han sheep. Thirty-five Dorper×thin-tailed Han crossbred, noncastrated ram lambs (20.3±0.22 kg of shrunk body weight (SBW)) were used. Seven lambs were rando...

A comparative slaughter trial and a metabolism trial were conducted to determine the requirement of net energy (NE) and metabolizable energy (ME) by the crossbreed of German Mutton Merino×Inner Mongolia Merino for fattening from 35 to 50 kg of body weight (BW). 49 crossbred female lambs ((33.9±2.3) (SD) kg BW) of German Mutton Merino×Inner Mongolia...