| Popis: |
Establishing the functional significance of rumen microbiome during heat stress may provide crucial information for elucidating climate resilience in goat. The current study was thus designed with an aim to assess the impact of heat stress on the rumen microbiome across three indigenous goat breeds. To prove this hypothesis, six experimental groups were chosen as follows: Osmanabadi Control (n=6), Osmanabadi Heat (n=6), Malabari Control (n=6), Malabari Heat (n=6), Salem Black Control (n=6) and Salem Black Heat (n=6). The study, being first of its kind, provides novel insights into influence of both genetic and environmental interaction on rumen microbial diversity in goats. An evident variation in the rumen microbial abundance was established during heat stress across all three goat breeds. The decreased Firmicutes and higher Bacteroides abundance in Salem Black goats could indicate the better protein and polysaccharide degrading ability of Salem Black breed. Further, the number of unique OTUs in the Salem Black heat group was higher as compared to both Osmanabadi and Malabari heat groups. In addition, the lower abundance of both KEGG as well as COG pathways indicated the sub-threshold level of heat stress experienced by this breed. Moreover, the histomorphometric changes in the rumen also pointed towards the better adaptive ability of Salem Black breed. This result point towards the genetic factor governing the rumen microbial diversity in goats during heat stress exposure. The findings provide substantial evidence on the genetic superiority of Salem Black breed in altering the rumen microbial population which could impart them the potential to thrive well in harsh environmental conditions. |
