ARS | Publication request: DETECTION OF SYNERGISTES JONESII IN CATTLE AND SHEEP FECES

Submitted to: American Forage and Grassland Conference Proceedings
Publication Type: Proceedings
Publication Acceptance Date: July 16, 2000
Publication Date: July 16, 2000

Technical Abstract: Leucaena, Leucaena leucocephala, may be useful in feeding systems for zoo- logical ruminants, but determining Synergistes jonesii status in zoological ruminants is necessary before it can be used. The objective of this study was to determine if current methods developed for detecting S. jonesii in cattle feces are applicable to drier fecal materials commonly found in zoological ruminants by using sheep (Ovis sp.) as a model. Feces and rumen fluid from cattle (Bos sp., n=2) and sheep (n=4) colonized with S. jonesii were collected and directly injected into culture media. Additionally, for the sheep only, a fecal slurry (1:4 wt. feces to vol. water) was made and injected into culture media. There was a species by incubation time inter- action (P<.07) for fecal samples because S. jonesii was detected in samples sooner (P<.09) from sheep than cattle, but by 16-wk incubation time, detection level in the fecal samples did not differ (50 vs. 37% for sheep and cattle, respectively; P=.71). Throughout the incubation period, the level of detection of S. jonesii in sheep was higher (P<.05) in rumen fluid than the average of the fecal samples (100 vs. 49%, respectively, at 16 wk), but there was no difference (P=.53) due to fecal preparation.