The impact of rumen and hindgut microbiomes on the persistent productivity of dairy cows.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Persistent productivity and productive lifespan determine the lifetime output of dairy cows and influence overall herd profitability. The composition and metabolic activity of the gastrointestinal microbiota of dairy cows influence persistent productivity. However, the processes by which host-microbiome crosstalk drives dairy cow persistent productivity remain unclear. Therefore, we performed an integrative comparative analysis of rumen and rectum metagenomes and metabolomes, together with serum and milk metabolomes, in long-lived dairy cows that exhibited divergent persistent productivity levels to elucidate the potential mechanisms that underpin modulation of persistent productivity by the rumen and rectum microbiota.

Results

Serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), total cholesterol (TC), and high-density and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C and LDL-C) levels in long-lived dairy cows were positively correlated with milk yield (MY) and elevated in long-lived high-yielding (LH) dairy cows, whereas insulin (INS) and glucagon (GCG) were negatively correlated with MY and higher in long-lived low-yielding (LL) dairy cows. Rumen propionate level was elevated in LH group, but rectum fermentation parameters and rumen and rectum microbiota diversity showed no significant differences between LH and LL cows. The rumen microbiome, in LH cows upregulated pathways involved in amino acid, cofactor, and vitamin metabolism. LH cows’ rumen and rectum microbial interaction networks exhibited dependence on key nodes and streamlined inter-node connectivity that enhanced local functional synergy, with robustness, cohesion, and vulnerability levels similar to LL cows. The rumen Acidaminococcaceae bacterium and rectum Parabacteroides sp. exerted a positive effect on MY via microbiota-host co-metabolism of the purine metabolites guanosine and D-ribose-1-phosphate. Furthermore, the specific rumen microbiome module enhanced the levels of circulating eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), thereby promoting the synthesis of Pe(20:5/0:0) in milk, which positively impacted MY.

Conclusions

The rumen and rectum microbiota positively influence production levels of long-lived dairy cows via microbiota and host co-metabolites of purine metabolites. Additionally, rumen microbiota improves production levels by enhancing host synthesis of EPA through the modulation of α-linolenic acid metabolism. The study reveals the potential role of rumen and rectum microbiota in regulating productivity of cows with sustained production capacity, providing insights for nutritional management strategies aimed at improving the health status and persistent production capacity of dairy cows.

INSTRUMENT(S): Liquid Chromatography MS - negative - reverse phase, Liquid Chromatography MS - positive - reverse phase

PROVIDER: MTBLS12879 | MetaboLights | 2025-08-22

REPOSITORIES: MetaboLights