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Rumen Microbiome Composition Is Altered in Sheep Divergent in Feed Efficiency.
Steven McLoughlin1,2, Charles Spillane2, Noel Claffey1
1Animal and Bioscience Research Department, Animal and Grassland Research and Innovation Centre, Teagasc, Athenry, Ireland.
Frontiers in Microbiology
|September 28, 2020
Summary
Rumen archaea, not bacteria, influence sheep feed efficiency. Low feed efficiency in sheep correlates with higher abundance of certain methanogenic archaea, suggesting energy loss. Specific bacterial genera also associate with feed conversion ratio.
Area of Science:
- Animal Science
- Microbiology
- Genomics
Background:
- Rumen microbiome composition and function are critical for animal feed efficiency in ruminants.
- Understanding these links in sheep is essential for improving livestock production.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the relationship between rumen microbial populations (bacteria and archaea) and feed conversion ratio (FCR) in sheep.
- To identify specific microbial taxa associated with high and low feed efficiency phenotypes.
Main Methods:
- Selected 26 ram lambs with extreme FCR from a cohort of 50.
- Analyzed rumen liquid and solid fractions using 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing.
- Employed Weighted UniFrac distances and diversity indices (Shannon, Simpson) to compare microbial communities.
Main Results:
- Archaeal communities in the liquid rumen fraction differed significantly between high and low feed efficiency groups.
- Low feed efficiency sheep showed greater archaeal diversity and higher abundance of specific *Methanobrevibacter* species.
- Bacterial communities showed no major compositional shifts, though specific genera (*Ruminococcaceae UCG-014*, *Olsenella*) correlated with FCR.
Conclusions:
- Feed efficiency in sheep is primarily influenced by archaeal community composition and specific bacterial abundance changes, not broad microbiome shifts.
- Methanogenic archaea may contribute to energy loss in less feed-efficient sheep.
- Targeting specific microbial taxa could offer strategies for enhancing sheep feed efficiency.
