THE BOVINE RUMEN MICROBIOME

The mammalian gut microbiota is essential in shaping many of its host`s functional attributes. Relationships between gut bacterial communities and their mammalian hosts have been shown in recent years to play an important role in the well-being and proper function of their hosts. A classic example of these relationships is found in the bovine digestive tract in a compartment termed the rumen. The rumen microbiome is necessary for the proper physiological development of the rumen and for the animal’s ability to digest and convert plant mass into basic food products, making it highly significant to humans and a perfect model system for the study of host - microbes interactions.

In my lecture I will discuss some of our recent findings regarding this ecosystem ecology.

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