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Nucleic Acids in Grass and Grass Silage

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 November 2017

A B McAllan
Affiliation:
AFRC, IGAP, Animal and Grassland Research Station, Hurley, Maidenhead, Berks SL6 5LR
G D Braithwaite
Affiliation:
AFRC, IGAP, Animal and Grassland Research Station, Hurley, Maidenhead, Berks SL6 5LR
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Extract

Little attention has been directed at defining the ‘protein’ fraction of silages. This component is normally estimated by fractionation based on solubility characteristics and under the conditions most commonly used, nucleic acids (ribonucleic acid (RNA) and deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA)) would appear in the protein fraction. Grasses and legumes can contain appreciable amounts of nucleic acids ranging from 11-29 and 19-53 g/kg dry matter respectively (McAllan, 1982). No information is available as to the effects of ensilage on these nucleic acids. Microbes also contain appreciable amounts of nucleic acids which can account for 150-200 gN/kg total-N of the cell and these amounts may vary according to the stage of growth. It has been suggested (Ullrich, 1982) that microbial-N contribution to the total-N content of silage is as much as 220-280 g/kg. Thus the total amount of silage ‘protein-N’ present in the form of nucleic acid-N (from both plant and microbes) could be appreciable leading to a considerable overestimation of the ‘protein’ content of the silage.

Type
General
Copyright
Copyright © The British Society of Animal Production 1988

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References

McAllan, A.B. (1982). Proc. Nutr. Soc. 41, 309317.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McAllan, A.C. & Smith, R.H. (1969). Br. J. Nutr. 23, 671682.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ullrich, B. (1982). Amount and quality of microbial protein in different silages. In: T.W., Griffith and M.T., Maguire (eds.) Forage conservation and utilisation. Dublin:CEC.Google Scholar