Investigating the establishment of the rumen and oral bacterial communities in beef cattle and assessing the applicability of using the oral bacterial community composition as a proxy for rumen bacterial community structure in cattle.

ABSTRACT:

Introduction

Studies have investigated the rumen microbiome composition and functions to improve ruminant agriculture and its environmental impacts. Yet, sample collection for rumen microbiome analysis can be difficult and invasive, hindering the ability to sample large animal populations. Studies have proposed using oral swabs as an alternative to rumen sample collection. Here, we investigated the potential of using the oral bacterial community as a proxy for the rumen bacterial community during the cattle production cycle.

Methods

We investigated the development of the bovine rumen and oral bacterial communities using longitudinal sampling and the applicability of using the oral to predict host phenotypes. To this end, we utilized 16S rRNA gene sequencing to characterize a

SUBMITTER: Adams S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12757392 | biostudies-literature | 2025

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature