Comparative Analysis of the Microbiota Between Sheep Rumen and Rabbit Cecum Provides New Insight Into Their Differential Methane Production.

ABSTRACT: The rumen and the hindgut represent two different fermentation organs in herbivorous mammals, with the former producing much more methane than the latter. The objective of this study was to elucidate the microbial underpinning of such differential methane outputs between these two digestive organs. Methane production was measured from 5 adult sheep and 15 adult rabbits, both of which were placed in open-circuit respiratory chambers and fed the same diet (alfalfa hay). The sheep produced more methane than the rabbits per unit of metabolic body weight, digestible neutral detergent fiber, and acid detergent fiber. pH in the sheep rumen was more than 1 unit higher than that in the rabbit cecum. The acetate to propionate ratio in the rabbit cecum was more than threefold greater than that in the

SUBMITTER: Mi L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5890152 | biostudies-literature | 2018

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature