Specific microbiome-dependent mechanisms underlie the energy harvest efficiency of ruminants

Ruminants have the remarkable ability to convert human-indigestible plant biomass into human-digestible food products, due to a complex microbiome residing in the rumen compartment of their upper digestive tract. Here we report the discovery that rumen microbiome components are tightly linked to cow...

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Published inThe ISME Journal Vol. 10; no. 12; pp. 2958 - 2972
Main Authors Shabat, Sheerli Kruger Ben, Sasson, Goor, Doron-Faigenboim, Adi, Durman, Thomer, Yaacoby, Shamay, Berg Miller, Margret E, White, Bryan A, Shterzer, Naama, Mizrahi, Itzhak
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published London Nature Publishing Group UK 01.12.2016
Nature Publishing Group
Subjects
45/23
631/326/2565/2134
631/326/2565/855
82/16
Animal Feed - analysis
Animals
Biomedical and Life Sciences
Cattle
Cattle - metabolism
Cattle - microbiology
Ecology
Energy Metabolism
Evolutionary Biology
Feed conversion
Feeds
Female
Food resources
Life Sciences
Livestock
Male
Methane - metabolism
Microbial activity
Microbial Ecology
Microbial Genetics and Genomics
Microbiology
Microbiota
Original
original-article
Phenotypes
Plant biomass
Rumen - metabolism
Rumen - microbiology
Ruminantia
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Summary:Ruminants have the remarkable ability to convert human-indigestible plant biomass into human-digestible food products, due to a complex microbiome residing in the rumen compartment of their upper digestive tract. Here we report the discovery that rumen microbiome components are tightly linked to cows' ability to extract energy from their feed, termed feed efficiency. Feed efficiency was measured in 146 milking cows and analyses of the taxonomic composition, gene content, microbial activity and metabolomic composition was performed on the rumen microbiomes from the 78 most extreme animals. Lower richness of microbiome gene content and taxa was tightly linked to higher feed efficiency. Microbiome genes and species accurately predicted the animals' feed efficiency phenotype. Specific enrichment of microbes and metabolic pathways in each of these microbiome groups resulted in better energy and carbon channeling to the animal, while lowering methane emissions to the atmosphere. This ecological and mechanistic understanding of the rumen microbiome could lead to an increase in available food resources and environmentally friendly livestock agriculture.
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ISSN:1751-7362
1751-7370
DOI:10.1038/ismej.2016.62