摘要
BackgroundThe symbiotic rumen microbiota is essential for the digestion of plant fibers and contributes to the variation of production and health traits in ruminants. However, to date, the heritability of rumen microbial features and host genetic components associated with the rumen microbiota, as well as whether such genetic components are animal performance relevant, are largely unknown.ResultsIn the present study, we assessed rumen microbiota from a cohort of 709 beef cattle and showed that multiple factors including breed, sex, and diet drove the variation of rumen microbiota among animals. The diversity indices, the relative abundance of ~ 34% of microbial taxa (59 out of 174), and the copy number of total bacteria had a heritability estimate (h2) ≥ 0.15, suggesting that they are heritable elements affected by host additive genetics. These moderately heritable rumen microbial features were also found to be associated with host feed efficiency traits and rumen metabolic measures (volatile fatty acids). Moreover, 19 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) located on 12 bovine chromosomes were found to be associated with 14 (12 of them had h2 ≥ 0.15) rumen microbial taxa, and five of these SNPs were known quantitative trait loci for feed efficiency in cattle.ConclusionsThese findings suggest that some rumen microbial features are heritable and could be influenced by host genetics, highlighting a potential to manipulate and obtain a desirable and efficient rumen microbiota using genetic selection and breeding. It could be a useful strategy to further improve feed efficiency and optimize rumen fermentation through targeting both cattle and their rumen microbiota.
摘要译文
背景共生瘤胃微生物群对植物纤维的消化至关重要，并有助于反刍动物的生产和健康特性的变化。然而，迄今为止，与瘤胃微生物群相关的瘤胃微生物特征和宿主遗传成分的遗传性以及这些遗传成分是否与动物表现相关，在很大程度上是未知的。结果在本研究中，我们评估了来自一个群体的瘤胃微生物群。 709头肉牛表明，包括品种，性别和饮食在内的多种因素导致了动物瘤胃微生物群的变异。多样性指数，~34％微生物类群的相对丰度（174个中的59个）和总细菌的拷贝数具有遗传力估计值（h 2 ）≥0.15，表明它们是受宿主添加遗传学影响的遗传因素。还发现这些中度可遗传的瘤胃微生物特征与宿主饲料效率性状和瘤胃代谢测量（挥发性脂肪酸）有关。此外，发现位于12条牛染色体上的19个单核苷酸多态性（SNPs）与14个（其中12个具有h 2 ≥0.15）瘤胃微生物类群相关，其中5个SNP已知定量结论这些研究结果表明，一些瘤胃微生物特征是可遗传的，可能受寄主遗传影响，突出了利用遗传选择和育种操纵和获得理想和有效的瘤胃微生物群的潜力。通过针对牛及其瘤胃微生物群，进一步提高饲料效率和优化瘤胃发酵可能是一种有用的策略。
Fuyong Li[1]]Changxi Li[1][2]]Yanhong Chen[1]]Junhong Liu[1]]Chunyan Zhang[1]]Barry Irving[1]]Carolyn Fitzsimmons[1][2]]Graham Plastow[1]]Le Luo Guan[1]]. Host genetics influence the rumen microbiota and heritable rumen microbial features associate with feed efficiency in cattle[J]. Microbiome, 2019,7(1)