Microbial Patterns in Rumen Are Associated with Gain of Weight in Beef Cattle

Ruminal microorganisms play a pivotal role in cattle nutrition. The discovery of the main microbes or of a microbial community responsible for enhancing the gain of weight in beef cattle might be used in therapeutic approaches to increase animal performance and cause less environmental damages. Here, we examined the differences in bacterial and fungal composition of rumen samples of Braford heifers raised in natural grassland of the Pampa Biome in Brazil. We aimed to detect microbial patterns in the rumen that could be correlated with the gain of weight. We hypothesized that microorganisms important to digestion process are increased in animals with a higher gain of weight. The gain of weight of seventeen healthy animals was monitored for 60 days. Ruminal samples were obtained and the 16S and ITS1 genes were amplified and sequenced to identify the closest microbial relatives within the microbial communities. A predictive model based on microbes responsible for the gain of weight was build and further tested using the entire dataset., The main differential abundant microbes between groups included the bacterial taxa RFN20, Prevotella, Anaeroplasma and RF16 and the fungal taxa Aureobasidium, Cryptococcus, Sarocladium, Pleosporales and Tremellales. The predictive model detected some of these taxa associated with animals with the high gain of weight group, most of them being organisms that have been correlated to the production of substances that improve the ruminal digestion process. These findings provide new insights about cattle nutrition and suggest the use of these microbes to improve beef cattle breeding.