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Updated: Oct 4, 2025

Author Spotlight: Advancing Intestinal Bacteria Cultivation for Poultry
Published on: May 10, 2024
The microbiome of the buffalo digestive tract
Feng Tong1,2, Teng Wang3, Na L Gao3
1Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Animal Molecular Design and Precise Breeding, School of Life Science and Engineering, Foshan University, 528225, Foshan, China.
Abstract:
Buffalo is an important livestock species. Here, we present a comprehensive metagenomic survey of the microbial communities along the buffalo digestive tract. We analysed 695 samples covering eight different sites in three compartments (four-chambered stomach, intestine, and rectum). We mapped ~85% of the raw sequence reads to 4,960 strain-level metagenome-assembled genomes (MAGs) and 3,255 species-level MAGs, 90% of which appear to correspond to new species. In addition, we annotated over 5.8 million nonredundant proteins from the MAGs. In comparison with the rumen microbiome of cattle, the buffalo microbiota seems to present greater potential for fibre degradation and less potential for methane production. Our catalogue of microbial genomes and the encoded proteins provides insights into microbial functions and interactions at distinct sites along the buffalo digestive tract.
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