Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Investigation Of The Toxic Affect Of Manganese On Ruminal Microbial Digestion And Growth, Erin Dearing

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

This research investigated the toxic effect of manganese, in a reduced chemical state, on rumen microbial metabolism and growth. The reduced form of manganese is the soluble state found in subsurface waters and has a high red-ox potential. In the study, we investigated the effects of reduced manganese at varying concentrations, on rumen microbial ability to replicate and metabolize carbohydrates. The hypotheses that we tested were as follows: (1) reduced manganese decreases the rate of pH drop associated with rumen culture fermentation of a com based diet and (2) reduced manganese decreases the bacterial growth in rumen culture, as measured …