Rumen microbiota of Tibetan sheep (Ovis aries) adaptation to extremely cold season on the Qighai-Tibetan Plateau
Date
2021-05-25
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Frontiers Media
Abstract
The Qinghai-Tibet Plateau is characterized by low temperatures and hypoxia, and this
feature is more obvious in the winter. However, it is not clear how Tibetan sheep
adapt to extreme cold climates. To address this, we used physiological methods
combined with next-generation sequencing technology to explore the differences in
growth performance, forage nutrient digestion, serum biochemical indexes, and rumen
microbial communities of Tibetan sheep (Ovis aries) between the summer and winter. In
the summer, owing to the high nutritional quality of the forage, the Tibetan sheep showed
enhanced forage degradation and fermentation though increased counts of important
bacteria in the rumen, such as Bacteroidetes, Prevotella_1, Prevotellaceae_UCG-003,
Ruminococcus_1, Saccharofermentans, and Ruminococcaceae_UCG-014, to improve
the growth performance and increase serum immunity and antioxidant status. In the
winter, owing to the low nutritional quality of the forage, the Tibetan sheep presented
low values of forage degradation and fermentation indicators. The relative abundance
of Firmicutes, the Firmicutes/Bacteroidetes ratio, microbial diversity, interactive activity
between microorganisms, and metabolism were significantly increased, implying that
the rumen microbiota could promote the decomposition of forage biomass and the
maintenance of energy when forage nutritional value was insufficient in the winter.
Our study helps in elucidating the mechanism by which Tibetan sheep adapt to the
high-altitude harsh environments, from the perspective of the rumen microbiota.
Description
Publication history: Accepted - 3 May 2021; Published online - 25 may 2021.
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Keywords
Tibetan sheep, growth performance, digestibility, Firmicutes/Bacteroidetes, VFA profiles
Citation
Fan, Q., Cui, X., Wang, Z., Chang, S., Wanapat, M., Yan, T. and Hou, F. (2021) ‘Rumen Microbiota of Tibetan Sheep (Ovis aries) Adaptation to Extremely Cold Season on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau’, Frontiers in Veterinary Science. Frontiers Media SA. doi:10.3389/fvets.2021.673822.