Multiomics insights into rumen microbiome and function in grazing lambs: implications for nutrient absorption and grassland sustainability

作者：Xiuhua Ma, Bing Wang, Minle Xu, Yingjun Zhang, Nan Liu, Teng Li, Zhen Li, Huan Yang, Ximei Xie, Bo Zhang, Zhi Wang, Yuting Wang, Jiaguan Liu, Jie Bao, Hailing Luo · 发表于：Microbiome · 年份：2025 · DOI：10.1186/s40168-025-02200-z · 被引用次数：3 · 研究领域：Ruminant Nutrition and Digestive Physiology、Gut microbiota and health、Soil Carbon and Nitrogen Dynamics

BACKGROUND: The center of sustainable development of grassland husbandry is the balance between forage intake and growth characteristics of animals, and one of the keys to restricting the conversion efficiency of forage intake is the digestibility of forage produced by rumen microorganisms. Thus, the interaction between grass intake and rumen microbial fermentation is a key driver of both ruminant productivity and grassland ecosystem health. However, interactions between grass species, supplementary feeding, rumen microbiome, and rumen epithelium function, remain poorly understood. RESULTS: We employed metagenomic and metatranscriptomic analyses, coupled with single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) of rumen wall and serum metabolomics, to investigate how the rumen microbiome regulates grass intake and host metabolism. In a two-factor (grazing intensity and concentrate supplementation) experiment with 72 lambs, supplementary feeding under moderate grazing increased dry matter intake but decreased grass consumption of Artemisia tanacetifolia. These shifts correlated with contrasting trends between metagenomic and metatranscriptomic profiles of Lachnospiraceae. scRNA-seq revealed an increased abundance of basal cells (BCs), terminally differentiated keratinocytes (TDKs), and differentiated keratinocytes (DKs) in the supplemented group, with solute carrier genes (e.g., SLC16A1) involved in short chain fatty acids (SCFAs) transport enriched in basal cells. We also identified intera...