Estructura de las comunidades bacterianas del rumen de vacas, ovejas y cabras en pastoreo | Bacterial community structure in the rumen of grazing cattle, sheep and goats

3 páginas, 1 tabla, 1 figura.-- Trabajo presentado al III Simposio sobre Microbiología Digestiva (Zaragoza, 19 de mayo de 2011).

The rumen bacterial community structure was studied in cattle, sheep and goats that were managed in mixed grazing on a big plot with about 76% of short heather– gorse shrubland and 24% of improved pasture. After a grazing period of approximately 2.5 months, rumen samples were obtained via a stomach tube, and DNA was extracted and analyzed by terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (T-RFLP). Bacterial profiles differed clearly among the three species, with a greater similarity percentage between cattle and sheep. This agrees with the known strong relationship between diet and bacterial composition, and with previous studies on the same plot showing that these two species consume more herbaceous plants and less shrubs than goats. Furthermore, goats’ rumen bacterial community presented a lower diversity and significant differences in the relative frequencies of some fragments, such as a greater proportion of one that may match Bacteroidetes species potentially resistant to tannins. On the other hand, a peak compatible with bacteria of the genus Butyrivibrio, which include microorganisms that are very active in degrading hemicellulose, only appeared in sheep and cattle.

Este trabajo ha sido financiado por el Instituto Nacional de Investigación y Tecnología Agraria y Alimentaria (INIA, Proyecto RTA2007-00098-C03).

Peer reviewed