Quantitative analysis of ruminal methanogenic microbial populations in beef cattle divergent in phenotypic residual feed intake (RFI) offered contrasting diets

BACKGROUND: Methane (CH₄) emissions in cattle are an undesirable end product of rumen methanogenic fermentative activity as they are associated not only with negative environmental impacts but also with reduced host feed efficiency. The aim of this study was to quantify total and specific rumen micr...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of animal science and biotechnology 2014-08, Vol.5 (1), p.41-41, Article 41
Main Authors: Carberry, Ciara A, Kenny, David A, Kelly, Alan K, Waters, Sinéad M
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
animal performance
Animals
Beef
Beef cattle
Cattle
Cloning
Correlation analysis
Diet
Digestibility
Divergence
Efficiency
Emissions
Energy
Environmental impact
feed conversion
Feed efficiency
feed intake
Feeds
Fermentation
greenhouse gas emissions
Methane
Methanogenic bacteria
methanogens
Microorganisms
Nutrient deficiency
phenotype
Phenotypes
Populations
Quantitative analysis
quantitative polymerase chain reaction
Relative abundance
reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction
Rumen
rumen fermentation
rumen fluids
rumen microorganisms
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Summary:BACKGROUND: Methane (CH₄) emissions in cattle are an undesirable end product of rumen methanogenic fermentative activity as they are associated not only with negative environmental impacts but also with reduced host feed efficiency. The aim of this study was to quantify total and specific rumen microbial methanogenic populations in beef cattle divergently selected for residual feed intake (RFI) while offered (i) a low energy high forage (HF) diet followed by (ii) a high energy low forage (LF) diet. Ruminal fluid was collected from 14 high (H) and 14 low (L) RFI animals across both dietary periods. Quantitative real time PCR (qRT-PCR) analysis was conducted to quantify the abundance of total and specific rumen methanogenic microbes. Spearman correlation analysis was used to investigate the association between the relative abundance of methanogens and animal performance, rumen fermentation variables and diet digestibility. RESULTS: Abundance of methanogens, did not differ between RFI phenotypes. However, relative abundance of total and specific methanogen species was affected (P 
ISSN:2049-1891
1674-9782
2049-1891
DOI:10.1186/2049-1891-5-41