Poor feed efficiency in sheep is associated with several structural abnormalities in the community metabolic network of their ruminal microbes.

ABSTRACT: Ruminant animals have a symbiotic relationship with the microorganisms in their rumens. In this relationship, rumen microbes efficiently degrade complex plant-derived compounds into smaller digestible compounds, a process that is very likely associated with host animal feed efficiency. The resulting simpler metabolites can then be absorbed by the host and converted into other compounds by host enzymes. We used a microbial community metabolic network inferred from shotgun metagenomics data to assess how this metabolic system differs between animals that are able to turn ingested feedstuffs into body mass with high efficiency and those that are not. We conducted shotgun sequencing of microbial DNA from the rumen contents of 16 sheep that differed in their residual feed intake (RFI), a measur

SUBMITTER: Patil RD 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6095279 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature