Influence of periparturient and postpartum diets on rumen methanogen communities in three breeds of primiparous dairy cows.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Enteric methane from rumen methanogens is responsible for 25.9 % of total methane emissions in the United States. Rumen methanogens also contribute to decreased animal feed efficiency. For methane mitigation strategies to be successful, it is important to establish which factors influence the rumen methanogen community and rumen volatile fatty acids (VFA). In the present study, we used next-generation sequencing to determine if dairy breed and/or days in milk (DIM) (high-fiber periparturient versus high-starch postpartum diets) affect the rumen environment and methanogen community of primiparous Holstein, Jersey, and Holstein-Jersey crossbreeds.

Results

When the 16S rRNA gene sequences were processed and assigned to operational taxonomic units (OTU), a core methan

SUBMITTER: Cersosimo LM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4855434 | biostudies-literature | 2016 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature