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Analysis of Rumen Methanogen Diversity in Water Buffaloes (Bubalus bubalis) Under Three Different Diets

  • Environmental Microbiology
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Abstract

The water buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) is a prominent livestock species for the production of milk and meat in many countries. We investigated the diversity of rumen methanogens in Mediterranean water buffaloes maintained in Brazil under different diets: corn silage, grazing pasture, or sugar cane. A total of 467 clones were isolated from three methanogen 16S rRNA gene clone libraries that each represented a distinct feed type. The 467 clones were assigned to 19 species-level operational taxonomic units (OTUs). Four OTUs were represented in all three libraries, eight OTUs were library-specific, six OTUs were found in only the corn silage and pasture grazing libraries, and one OTU was shared only between pasture grazing and sugar cane libraries. We found that Methanobrevibacter-related sequences were the most abundant in the water buffaloes sampled for our analysis, in contrast to previously reported studies showing that Methanomicrobium mobile-like methanogens were the most abundant methanogens in water buffaloes of Murrah and Surti breeds sampled in India. Considering the worldwide distribution of water buffaloes and the likely wide variety of diets provided, our results combined with studies from other groups support that larger scope analyses of microbiomes for this livestock species would provide great insight into the contribution of geographical location, breed, and diet in determining the population structure of rumen microorganisms.

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Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful to the Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Cientifico e Technologico (CNPq–Brazil) for fellowship support to R.F. and for the scientific collaboration between the Universidade de Sao Paulo (USP–Brazil) and CSIRO Livestock Industries (Australia) that have made this research possible.

Author information

Author notes

  1. Raul Franzolin

    Present address: Departemento de Zootecnia, Faculdade de Zootecnia e Engenharia de Alimentos, Universidade de Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil

  2. Korinne Northwood

    Present address: Imperial College, Commonwealth Building, Du Cane Rd, Hammersmith, W120NN, UK

  3. Benoit St-Pierre & André-Denis G. Wright

    Present address: Department of Animal Science, The University of Vermont, 570 Main Street, Burlington, VT, 05405, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. CSIRO Livestock Industries, Queensland Bioscience Precinct, 306 Carmody Rd, St. Lucia, QLD, 4067, Australia

    Raul Franzolin, Benoit St-Pierre, Korinne Northwood & André-Denis G. Wright

Authors
  1. Raul Franzolin
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  2. Benoit St-Pierre
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  3. Korinne Northwood
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  4. André-Denis G. Wright
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to André-Denis G. Wright.

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Supplemental Table 1

GenBank accession numbers and length of individual 16S rRNA gene sequences identified in the rumen of water buffaloes under different diets (BBC corn silage and concentrate, BBG grazing palisade signal grass (B. brizantha), BBS sugar cane and concentrate). (XLS 33 kb)

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Franzolin, R., St-Pierre, B., Northwood, K. et al. Analysis of Rumen Methanogen Diversity in Water Buffaloes (Bubalus bubalis) Under Three Different Diets. Microb Ecol 64, 131–139 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00248-012-0007-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00248-012-0007-0

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