The impact of rumen and hindgut microbiomes on the persistent productivity of dairy cows

Persistent productivity and productive lifespan of dairy cows determine their lifetime productivity, which influences the overall profitability of the herd. Enhancing the lifetime productivity of dairy herds also contributes to improving both economic and environmental sustainability. The gastrointestinal microbiota of dairy cows influences their persistent productivity and productive lifespan through its composition and metabolic activity. However, how the gastrointestinal microbiota and its metabolites engage in host microbiome crosstalk to drive persistent productivity in dairy cows remains to be elucidated. Therefore, we performed an integrative comparative analysis of rumen and rectum metagenomic and metabolomic, together with serum and milk metabolomes, in long-lived dairy cows exhibiting divergent persistent productivity levels, to elucidate the potential mechanisms how the rumen and rectum microbiota modulate persistent productivity.