Rumen methanogenic genotypes differ in abundance according to host residual feed intake phenotype and diet type
Open accessAbstract
Methane is an undesirable end product of rumen fermentative activity because of associated environmental impacts and reduced host feed efficiency. Our study characterized the rumen microbial methanogenic community in beef cattle divergently selected for phenotypic residual feed intake (RFI) while offered a high-forage (HF) diet followed by a low-forage (LF) diet. Rumen fluid was collected from 14 high-RFI (HRFI) and 14 low-RFI (LRFI) animals at the end of both dietary periods. 16S rRNA gene clone libraries were used, and methanogen-specific tag-encoded pyrosequencing was carried out on the samples. We found that Methanobrevibacter spp. are the dominant methanogens in the rumen, with Methanobrevibacter smithii being the most abundant species. Differences in the abundance of Methanobrevibacter smithii and Methanosphaera stadtmanae genotypes were detected in the rumen of animals offered the LF compared to the HF diet while the abundance of Methanobrevibacter smithii genotypes was different between HRFI and LRFI animals irrespective of diet. Our results demonstrate that while a core group of methanogen operational taxonomic units (OTUs) exist across diet and phenotype, significant differences were observed in the distribution of genotypes within those OTUs. These changes in genotype abundance may contribute to the observed differences in methane emissions between efficient and inefficient animals.
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
Methanogen diversity, and not density, is critically important to methane output, with more diversity being associated with higher emissions.
“Recent studies suggest that methanogen diversity, and not density, is critically important to methane output, with more diversity being associated with higher emissions (Janssen and Kirs, 2008; Carberry et al., 2014).”
From Addressing global ruminant agricultural challenges through understanding the rumen microbiome: past, present, and future (2018) · cites this paper as Carberry et al., 2014
Self-check
Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.
The self-check needs the paper’s full text.
The citation lists haven’t been fetched yet
References 62 · Cited by 100
Research works printed but not linked: 2
- McDonnell R, Hart KJ, Boland TM, Kelly AK, McGee M, Kenny DA. 2009. Effect of ranking on phenotypic residual feed intake and diet on ruminal methane emissions from beef heifers, p 42. In Proceeding of the Agricultural Research Forum, Tullamore, Ireland, 12 to 13 March 2009.
- Hansen EE, Lozupone CA, Rey FE, Wu M, Guruge JL, Narra A, Goodfel- low J, Zaneveld JR, McDonald DT, Goodrich JA, Heath AC, Knight R, Gordon JI. 2011. Pan-genome of the dominant human gut-associated ar- chaeon, Methanobrevibacter smithii, studied in twins. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci.
- Authors
- Carberry, C. A., Waters, S. M., Kenny, D. A., & Creevey, C. J.
- Affiliations
- University College Dublin (IE)
- Animal and Bioscience Research Department, Animal and Grassland Research and Innovation Centre, Teagasc, Grange, Dunsany, Co. Meath, Ireland
- Teagasc - The Irish Agriculture and Food Development Authority (IE)
- Venue
- Applied and Environmental Microbiology
- Publisher
- American Society for Microbiology
- Published
- 2014-01-15
- Volume
- 80
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 586-594
- ISSN
- 0099-2240 (ISSN-L)
- 1098-5336
- PMC
- PMC3911112
- OpenAlex
- W2099899795
- Cited by
- 100
- References
- 62
- Citations by year
- 2026: 3 · 2025: 5 · 2024: 8 · 2023: 3 · 2022: 7 · 2021: 12 · 2020: 13 · 2019: 5 · 2018: 11 · 2017: 13 · 2016: 6 · 2015: 6 · 2014: 8
- FWCI
- 14.17
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Update notices
- correction (2014-02-25)
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- Applied and Environmental Microbiology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Research Portal (Queen's University Belfast) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- Science Foundation Ireland (07/SK/B1236a)
- Teagasc
- Russian Science Foundation
- Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBS/E/W/10964A01B, BBS/E/W/10964A01A, BBS/E/W/10964A01C)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Agronomy and Crop Science › Ruminant Nutrition and Digestive Physiology
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Building and Construction › Anaerobic Digestion and Biogas Production
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Gut microbiota and health
- Keywords
- rumen methanogens, Methanobrevibacter smithii, Methanosphaera stadtmanae, residual feed intake, divergent selection, beef cattle, forage-based diets, methane emissions, rumen microbiota, 16S rRNA gene
- MeSH terms
- Animals, Animal Feed, Cattle, Genotype, Molecular Sequence Data, Phenotype, Phylogeny, RNA, Ribosomal, 16S, Rumen, Methanobacteriaceae, Methanobrevibacter, Biodiversity
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
