Short communication: Oral microbiome as a potential proxy for grazing livestock methane emissions

作者：Chian Teng Ong, Tony Cavallaro, Yuhao Li, Alan Boulton, Basil Firewski, Marloes D Nitert, Kieren McCosker, Sam Clark, Scott Cullen, Melissah Dayman, Milou Helene Dekkers, Paul Gangemi, Kerry Goodwin, Tim Grant, Rachelle Hergenhan, David Johnston, Natalie Scott, Bradley Taylor, Cameron Whistler, Ben J. Hayes, Marina Fortes, Elizabeth M. Ross · 发表于：bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) · 年份：2026 · DOI：10.64898/2026.03.26.714587 · 研究领域：Ruminant Nutrition and Digestive Physiology、Gut microbiota and health、Oral microbiology and periodontitis research

Abstract Enteric methane emissions from ruminant livestock contribute to global warming, creating an urgent need for effective mitigation strategies that do not compromise animal productivity and welfare. Methanogenic archaea within the rumen microbiome drive enteric methane emissions. However, large-scale rumen-fluid sampling in commercial production systems is impractical, due to its invasive nature and the associated logistical challenges. This study hypothesised that rumination enables the capture of rumen microbial signals within the oral cavity and using oral microbiome profiles to provide a practical, non-invasive alternative method for proxy methane phenotyping in commercial production systems. To test the hypothesis, we estimated the oral microbiability, defined as the proportion of phenotypic variance in methane emissions explained by oral microbiome variation. Samples were collected from 209 animals across two trials in Queensland, Australia. Oral microbiome samples were obtained from all animals, with paired rumen samples in one trial, and methane emissions were measured using either the sulphur hexafluoride (SF 6 ) tracer technique or the GreenFeed system. Microbial features were characterised using taxonomic and functional annotations, and microbiability was estimated using mixed linear models incorporating microbiome-based relationship matrices. Although the small sample size limited strong conclusions, the oral microbiability estimates reported in this study w...