diff --git a/content/academia/metagenomics/index.md b/content/academia/metagenomics/index.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..0b5e144 --- /dev/null +++ b/content/academia/metagenomics/index.md @@ -0,0 +1,56 @@ +--- +title: "Metagenomic analysis of rumen populations in week-old calves as altered by maternal late gestational nutrition and mode of delivery" +date: 2019-06-12 +cardImage: cannulated-cows +draft: false +featured: true +keywords: + - gestation + - metagenomics + - microbiome + - rumen +type: "Poster" +authors: + - T. A. Christensen II + - K. J. Austin + - K. M. Cammack + - H. C. Cunningham-Hollinger +link: 'https://dx.doi.org/...' +journal: "Westion Section American Society of Animal Science Annual Meeting" +location: "Boise, Idaho" +awards: + - '1st Place Undergraduate Poster Competition' +--- + +Early colonization of the rumen microbiome is critical to host health and long +term performance. Factors that influence early colonization include maternal +factors such as gestational nutrition and mode of delivery. Therefore, we +hypothesized that late gestational nutrition and mode of delivery would +influence the calf rumen microbiome. Our objectives were to determine if +nutrient restriction during late gestation alters the calf rumen microbiome and +determine if ruminal microbiome composition differs in calves born vaginally +versus caesarean. Late gestating Angus cows were randomly allocated to one of +three treatment groups: control (**CON**; n = 6), caesarean section (**CS**; n = +4), and nutrient restricted (**NR**; n = 5), where CON were fed DDGS and hay to +meet NRC requirements and calved naturally; CS were fed similarly to CON and +calves were born via caesarean section; and NR were fed at a level to reduce BCS +by 1.5-2.0 points over the last trimester compared to CON and calved naturally. +Rumen fluid was collected via oral lavage prior to partition from cows and at d +7 from calves. Microbial DNA was isolated from the rumen fluid and metagenomic +shotgun sequencing was performed using the Illumina HiSeq 2500 platform. +Sequence data were analyzed using Metaxa2 for taxonomic assignment followed by +QIIME1 and QIIME2 to determine differential abundance and alpha- and +beta-diversity differences. There were no significant differences in +alpha-diversity as measured by shannon index across treatment groups for cows +(_P_ = 0.239), but there were significant differences for calves (_P_ = 0.015). +Similarly, there were no significant differences in beta-diversity as measured +by the bray-curtis dissimilarity matrix for cows (_P_ = 0.059), but there were +significant differences for calves (_P_ = 0.007). Alpha-diversity differed (_P_ +< 0.001) between cows and calves, with cows having increased species richness +compared to calves. Beta-diversity also differed (_P_ = 0.001) between cows and +calves. At total of 410 taxa were differentially abundant (_P_ < 0.01) between +cows and calves. These results suggest that the mature rumen microbiome of cows +is able to withstand changes in feed intake, however the calf microbiome is +susceptible to alteration by maternal factors. These data also suggest that +there may be opportunities to develop management strategies during late +gestation that influence calf health and performance long-term. diff --git a/content/academia/metagenomics/metagenomics_analysis_of_rumen_populations.pdf b/content/academia/metagenomics/metagenomics_analysis_of_rumen_populations.pdf new file mode 100644 index 0000000..287c5d8 Binary files /dev/null and b/content/academia/metagenomics/metagenomics_analysis_of_rumen_populations.pdf differ