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Pregastric and caecal fermentation pattern in Syrian hamsters

  • Milan Marounek EMAIL logo , Jakub Mrázek , Zdeněk Volek , Eva Skřivanová and Jiří Killer
Published/Copyright: December 17, 2014
Mammalia
From the journal Mammalia Volume 80 Issue 1

Abstract

Few studies have compared the pregastric and caecal digestion of hamsters. Mature Syrian hamsters (Mesocricetus auratus) were fed a diet containing crude protein and fibre at 225 and 64 g/kg, respectively. In the pregastric digesta, the pH, volatile fatty acids (VFA), lactate and ammonia N concentrations were 5.91±0.97, 43.1±12.9 μmol/g, 19.2±8.0 μmol/g and 2.46±1.16 mg/g, respectively. The corresponding values in the caecal contents were 6.41±0.25, 92.1±12.2 μmol/g, 6.9±1.0 μmol/g and 0.28±0.08 mg/g, respectively. Acetate was the primary VFA, followed by propionate in the forestomach and butyrate in the caecum. In the caecal contents, a very small amount of methane was produced. The number of total bacteria determined by real-time PCR averaged 2.31×109/g and 1.57×1010/g in the pregastric and caecal digesta, respectively. In the pregastric digesta, bifidobacteria and Bacteroides sp. were present at 1.57×107/g and 4.02×107/g, respectively. In the caecal contents, the numbers of bifidobacteria and Bacteroides sp. were 1.01×108/g and 1.46×108/g, respectively. The caecum appears to be more important in hamsters than the forestomach, both in terms of its greater size (3.39±0.63 g vs. 1.59±0.70 g) and greater microbial activity.

Keywords: bacteria; caecum; fermentation; forestomach; Mesocricetus auratus
Corresponding author: Milan Marounek, Institute of Animal Science, Department of Nutrition Physiology and Products Quality, Přátelství 815, Prague 22, 104 00 Czech Republic, e-mail:

Acknowledgments

This study was supported by the Ministry of Agriculture of the Czech Republic (project MZERO0714) and by the Czech University of Life Sciences (project CIGA 2012014). The authors thank Dr. J. Plachý from the Institute of Molecular Genetics in Prague for the gift of hamsters.

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Received: 2014-8-5
Accepted: 2014-10-22
Published Online: 2014-12-17
Published in Print: 2016-1-1

©2016 by De Gruyter

Articles in the same Issue

  1. Frontmatter
  2. Original Studies
  3. Summer temperature and precipitation govern bat diversity at northern latitudes in Norway
  4. Structure of three subtropical bat assemblages (Chiroptera) in the Andean rainforests of Argentina
  5. Morphology, genetics and echolocation calls of the genus Kerivoula (Chiroptera: Vespertilionidae: Kerivoulinae) in Thailand
  6. Status and population structure of a hunted population of Marco Polo Argali Ovis ammon polii (Cetartiodactyla, Bovidae) in Southeastern Tajikistan
  7. Habitat use of Himalayan grey goral in relation to livestock grazing in Machiara National Park, Pakistan
  8. Characterization and selection of microhabitat of Microcavia australis (Rodentia: Caviidae): first data in a rocky habitat in the hyperarid Monte Desert of Argentina
  9. Pregastric and caecal fermentation pattern in Syrian hamsters
  10. Short Notes
  11. Barn owl pellets collected in coastal savannas yield two additional species of small mammals for French Guiana
  12. Wiedomys cerradensis (Gonçalves, Almeida, Bonvicino, 2003) (Rodentia, Cricetidae): first record from the state of Maranhão, Brazil
  13. Morpho-anatomical characteristics of Indian pangolin (Manis crassicaudata) from Potohar Plateau, Pakistan
  14. First confirmed records of two bat species for Iraq: Rhinolophus euryale and Myotis emarginatus (Chiroptera)
  15. An efficient timing device to record activity patterns of small mammals in the field
  16. First record of Leontopithecus chrysopygus (Primates: Callitrichidae) in Carlos Botelho State Park, São Miguel Arcanjo, São Paulo, Brazil
https://doi.org/10.1515/mammalia-2014-0109
Keywords for this article
bacteria; caecum; fermentation; forestomach; Mesocricetus auratus

Articles in the same Issue

  1. Frontmatter
  2. Original Studies
  3. Summer temperature and precipitation govern bat diversity at northern latitudes in Norway
  4. Structure of three subtropical bat assemblages (Chiroptera) in the Andean rainforests of Argentina
  5. Morphology, genetics and echolocation calls of the genus Kerivoula (Chiroptera: Vespertilionidae: Kerivoulinae) in Thailand
  6. Status and population structure of a hunted population of Marco Polo Argali Ovis ammon polii (Cetartiodactyla, Bovidae) in Southeastern Tajikistan
  7. Habitat use of Himalayan grey goral in relation to livestock grazing in Machiara National Park, Pakistan
  8. Characterization and selection of microhabitat of Microcavia australis (Rodentia: Caviidae): first data in a rocky habitat in the hyperarid Monte Desert of Argentina
  9. Pregastric and caecal fermentation pattern in Syrian hamsters
  10. Short Notes
  11. Barn owl pellets collected in coastal savannas yield two additional species of small mammals for French Guiana
  12. Wiedomys cerradensis (Gonçalves, Almeida, Bonvicino, 2003) (Rodentia, Cricetidae): first record from the state of Maranhão, Brazil
  13. Morpho-anatomical characteristics of Indian pangolin (Manis crassicaudata) from Potohar Plateau, Pakistan
  14. First confirmed records of two bat species for Iraq: Rhinolophus euryale and Myotis emarginatus (Chiroptera)
  15. An efficient timing device to record activity patterns of small mammals in the field
  16. First record of Leontopithecus chrysopygus (Primates: Callitrichidae) in Carlos Botelho State Park, São Miguel Arcanjo, São Paulo, Brazil
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