A Refreshed View of the Rumen Microbiome of Beef Cattle in Light of Next-Generation DNA Sequencing

The rumen of cattle is densely populated by a myriad of diverse microorganisms. The bacterial proportion of this consortium has been elucidated regarding its ability to break down and metabolize complex compounds (particularly polysaccharides) which would otherwise be undigestible to the mammalian host. True symbioses such as that found in the rumen between the host animal and the resident ruminal microbial population is rare in nature. The development of Next-Generation DNA Sequencing techniques now allows us to study the microbial composition in greater detail than ever before. The implementation of new technology to characterize the ruminal microbial population, combined with animal performance data, has opened a new field of study for animal scientists and ruminant nutritionists. Ultimately, we must correlate animal feed efficiency and microbial degradative specific activities with the overall ruminal microbial diversity. These correlations will pave a new way for nutritionists to feed cattle more efficiently, precisely selecting in favor of the microbial populations that are most associated with efficient animal performance.