Rumen microbiota composition in dairy cows differing in methane emission level and fed grass silage or corn silage diets

This study investigated the rumen microbial community composition of dairy cows differing in methane emission phenotype and fed contrasting forage-based diets. Lactating dairy cows were classified as high or low methane emitters based on individual methane measurements and were fed either a grass silage–based or a corn silage–based diet. Rumen samples were collected at multiple time points during the feeding trial and analyzed using 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing to characterize bacterial and archaeal community composition. The resulting dataset enables assessment of the relationships between diet, methane emission level, and rumen microbiota structure under practical feeding conditions.