Location: Livestock, Forage and Pasture Management Research Unit
Project Number: 3070-31630-008-001-S
Project Type: Non-Assistance Cooperative Agreement
Start Date: Jun 1, 2018
End Date: May 31, 2023
Objective:
To characterize rumen metagenome and metabolome in relation to animal residual feed intake and nutrient-use/production efficiency in beef cattle consuming forage and forage-grain diets.
Approach:
The proposed work will use rumen and blood samples collected from beef cattle fed forage-based diets or grazing pastures. Laboratory analyses of samples will include rumen metagenomic analysis of microbial community structure and functional potential, and the bioinformatic pipeline to determine the relative abundances of bacteria and archaea taxa, functional microbial genes, and metabolic pathways relative to differences in residual feed intake by cattle. Untargeted metabolomics will be used to determine the metabolites of rumen fluid contents and blood plasma. Data will be integrated to help identify potential biological and genetic markers that are useful in understanding intake, and improving nutrient utilization and performance in livestock.
