INTRACELLULAR AMINO ACID PROFILE OF RUMEN BACTERIA AS INFLUENCED BY UREA FEEDING AND ITS DURATION

Rumen bacterial amino acids in sheep on urea diet were monitored to assess a possible change in amino acid synthesis as a long term response to high rumen ammonia environment. A sheep was fed a semipurified diet with soybean meal, followed by a diet with urea as a main nitrogen source. Mixed rumen bacteria were harvested from ruminal fluid taken 3 h after feeding (twice in soybean meal feeding and 6 times in urea feeding) and fractionated as cell wall, proteins and protein-free cell supernatant of monitor amino acids in each fraction. Ruminal ammonia concentration at the sampling ranged from 5.7 to 39.5 mgN/dl. Cell wall and protein fractions of mixed rumen bacteria were stable in their amino acid composition regardless of nitrogen sources of diet and the feeding duration. However, protein-free cell supernatant fraction showed a higher alanine proportion with urea feeding (18.6 and 28.2 molar % of alanine for samples from sheep fed soybean meal and urea, respectively) and its duration (20.6 and 32.9 molar % for samples from sheep on urea diet for 1 and 65 days, respectively). Total free amino acid level of bacteria was depressed in the initial period of urea feeding but restored on 65th day of the feeding. These results suggest that an alanine synthesizing system may develop in rumen bacteria as urea feeding becomes longer.