RUMEN MICROBIOME METABOLISM OF BEEF CATTLE GRAZING TOXIC AND NON-TOXIC TALL FESCUE PASTURE

The eventualgoalof the proposed project is to obtain answers to the following questions: i.What are the metabolic activities of the rumen microbiome of beef cattle grazing tall fescue pasture?ii.If and in what way are these characteristics altered by the presence of toxin (ergovaline)-producing endophytic fungi? To lay a foundation for a detailed study towards this goalwe will pursue the following objectives.Objective 1. To generate an approximate concept of the compositions and metabolic activities of the rumen microbiomes of cattle grazing MaxQ and KY-31 through an analysis of the 16SrRNA-V4 amplicon sequence data.Objective 2. To perform metagenomic analyses, including the assembly and analysis of MAGs, to develop models for the metabolic potentials of rumen microbiome under MaxQ and KY-31 grazing.Objective 1 will utilize the 16SrRNA-V4 sequence data that have been generated in the preceding HATCH project (CRIS project VA-160021). In objective 2, purified metagenomic DNA samples archived in the above-mentioned HATCH project will be used. Thus, this HATCH project will not involve any animal-based experiments. It will concern the sequencing of currently available DNA samples and the analysis of DNA sequences that are either currently available or will be generated in the project.