Toward the identification of methanogenic archaeal groups as targets of methane mitigation in livestock animalsr

Benoit St-Pierre; Laura M Cersosimo; Suzanne L Ishaq; André-Denis G Wright

doi:10.3389/fmicb.2015.00776

Toward the identification of methanogenic archaeal groups as targets of methane mitigation in livestock animalsr

Front Microbiol. 2015 Jul 30:6:776. doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2015.00776. eCollection 2015.

Authors

Benoit St-Pierre¹, Laura M Cersosimo², Suzanne L Ishaq³, André-Denis G Wright⁴

Affiliations

¹ Department of Animal Science, South Dakota State University, Brookings SD, USA.
² Department of Animal and Veterinary Sciences, The University of Vermont, Burlington VT, USA.
³ Department of Animal and Range Sciences, Montana State University, Bozeman MT, USA.
⁴ School of Animal and Comparative Biomedical Sciences, University of Arizona, Tucson AZ, USA.

Abstract

In herbivores, enteric methane is a by-product from the digestion of plant biomass by mutualistic gastrointestinal tract (GIT) microbial communities. Methane is a potent greenhouse gas that is not assimilated by the host and is released into the environment where it contributes to climate change. Since enteric methane is exclusively produced by methanogenic archaea, the investigation of mutualistic methanogen communities in the GIT of herbivores has been the subject of ongoing research by a number of research groups. In an effort to uncover trends that would facilitate the development of efficient methane mitigation strategies for livestock species, we have in this review summarized and compared currently available results from published studies on this subject. We also offer our perspectives on the importance of pursuing current research efforts on the sequencing of gut methanogen genomes, as well as investigating their cellular physiology and interactions with other GIT microorganisms.

Keywords: 16S rRNA analysis; herbivores; methane mitigation; methanogens; rumen microbiology.

Publication types

Review