Long transportation duration affects nutrient composition, mycotoxins and microbial community in whole-plant corn silage.

Our results showed that the temperature of WPCS was higher in the ZY and CY groups than in the DY group ( < 0.01). There were no significant differences in dry matter (DM), crude protein (CP), neutral detergent fiber (NDF), acid detergent fiber (ADF), ether extract (EE) and starch contents after different transportation times ( > 0.05), whereas the starch and water-soluble carbohydrates (WSC) contents in the CY group was significantly decreased after transport ( < 0.05). Similarly, the concentration of vomitoxin in the DY and CY groups declined markedly ( < 0.05) and the zearalenone content in the DY group also significantly decreased after transportation ( < 0.05). Regarding the analysis of microorganisms in WPCS, UniFrac-distance matrices and Shannon indices showed differences in the ZY group ( < 0.05), but fungal diversities were not influenced by the transport time ( > 0.05). In the ZY group, the relative abundance of decreased significantly after transportation ( > 0.05), but the relative abundances of _ and increased markedly ( < 0.05). In addition, the relative abundances of and in the CY group increased after transport ( < 0.05). Among fungal communities, a total of three, nine, and ten different fungal flora were observed in the DY, ZY, and CY groups, respectively, although no difference was found in fungal diversity. In conclusion, increased temperature, loss of starch, and mycotoxin variation were found with increased transport time. This might be the result of competition between bacteria and fungi, and novel technologies will need to be utilized for further exploration of the mechanism.