Characterization of the core rumen microbiome in cattle during transition from forage to concentrate as well as during and after an acidotic challenge

This study investigated the effect of diet and host on the rumen bacterial microbiome and the impact of an acidotic challenge on its composition. Using parallel pyrosequencing of the V3 hypervariable region of 16S rRNA, solid and liquid associated bacterial communities of 8 heifers were profiled. Heifers were exclusively fed forage, before being transitioned to a concentrate diet, subjected to an acidotic challenge and allowed to recover. Samples of rumen digesta were collected when heifers were fed forage, mixed forage, high grain, during challenge (4 h and 12 h) and recovery. A total of 560,994 high-quality bacterial sequences were obtained from the solid and liquid digesta.

本研究探究了日粮与宿主对瘤胃细菌微生物组（rumen bacterial microbiome）的影响，以及酸中毒攻毒对其群落组成的调控效应。本研究采用16S rRNA的V3高变区平行焦磷酸测序（pyrosequencing）技术，对8头青年母牛（heifers）的固相及液相附着细菌群落进行了特征分析。试验牛初始仅以粗饲料饲喂，随后过渡至精料日粮，先后接受酸中毒攻毒并完成恢复期饲养。分别在青年母牛饲喂粗饲料、粗精混合饲料、高精料日粮、攻毒后4小时与12小时以及恢复期采集瘤胃内容物样本。最终从固相及液相瘤胃内容物中共获得560994条高质量细菌序列。