The impact of diet on the composition and relative abundance of rumen microbes in goat

This experiment was conducted to explore the impact of diet on the ruminal microbial community in goats. Twelve goats were divided into two groups and fed complete feed (CF) or all forage (AF) diet. The total microbial DNAs in the rumen liquid were extracted. The V4 region of microbial 16S rRNA genes was amplified and sequenced using high-throughput. Information of sequences was mainly analyzed by QIIME 1.8.0. The results showed that Bacteroidetes and Firmicutes were the most predominant microbial phyla in the rumen of all goats. At genus level, the abundance of fiber-digesting bacteria such as and was significantly higher in AF than that in CF, while the levels of fat-degrading bacterium and protein-degrading bacterium were opposite. The core shared genera, and were widespread in the rumen of goats and no significant difference was observed in relative abundance between groups. We concluded that the richness of fiber-, protein-, and fat-digesting bacteria was affected by diet and tended to increase with the rise of their corresponding substrate contents in the ration; some bacteria shared by all goats maintained stable despite the difference in the ration, and they might be essential in maintaining the normal function of rumen.