Rumen and fecal microbiomes are related to diet and production traits in Bos indicus beef cattle

Background: Ruminants harbor a complex microbial community within their gastrointestinal tract, which plays major roles in their health and physiology. Brazil is one of the largest producers of beef in the world and more than 90% of the beef cattle herds are composed of pure and crossbred Nelore (Bos indicus). Despite its importance to the Brazilian economy and human feeding, few studies have characterized the Nelore microbiome. Therefore, using shotgun metagenomics, we investigated the impact of diet on the composition and functionality of the Nelore microbiome, and explored the associations between specific microbial taxa and their functionality with feed efficiency and methane emission.

Results: The ruminal microbiome exhibited significantly higher microbial diversity, distinctive taxonomic profile and variations in microbial functionality compared to the fecal microbiome, highlighting the distinct contributions of the microbiomes of these environments. Animals subjected to different dietary treatments exhibited significant differences in their microbiomes' archaeal diversity and in the abundance of 89 genera, as well as in the functions associated with the metabolism of components of each diet. Moreover, depending on the diet, feed-efficient animals and low methane emitters displayed higher microbial diversity in their fecal microbiome. Multiple genera were associated with an increase or decrease of the phenotypes. Upon analyzing the functions attributed to these taxa, we observed significant differences on the ruminal taxa associated with feed efficient and inefficient cattle. The ruminal taxa that characterized feed efficient cattle stood out for having significantly more functions related to carbohydrate metabolism, such as monosaccharides, di-/oligosaccharides and amino acids. The taxa associated with methane emission had functions associated with methanogenesis and the production of substrates that may influence methane production, such as hydrogen and formate.

Conclusion: Our findings highlight the significant role of diet in shaping Nelore microbiomes and how its composition and functionality may affect production traits such as feed efficiency and methane emission. These insights provide valuable support for the implementation of novel feeding and biotechnological strategies.