Phylum level comparison of rumen microbiome associated with solid and liquid rumen phase from white tailed deer (n = 3) and elk (n = 15).

<p>Values shown represent the percent of sequences assigned to a particular phylum averaged over all samples of the same type.</p

Taxa identified within the core microbiome of the rumen of elk, white tailed deer.

<p>Taxa identified within the core microbiome of the rumen of elk, white tailed deer.</p

Principle component analysis of 16S profiles from rumen contents collected from elk (Solid-blue, Liquid-Black), white tailed deer (Solid-Red, Liquid-Green).

<p>Principle component analysis of 16S profiles from rumen contents collected from elk (Solid-blue, Liquid-Black), white tailed deer (Solid-Red, Liquid-Green).</p

Microbial composition of wild ruminants assessed using Jaccard analysis of OTUs at 97% identity.

<p>Samples are labeled animal elk or white tailed deer - animal number - S (rumen solids) or L (rumen liquids).</p

Diversity of Rumen Bacteria in Canadian Cervids

<div><p>Interest in the bacteria responsible for the breakdown of lignocellulosic feedstuffs within the rumen has increased due to their potential utility in industrial applications. To date, most studies have focused on bacteria from domesticated ruminants. We have expanded the knowledge of the microbial ecology of ruminants by examining the bacterial populations found in the rumen of non-domesticated ruminants found in Canada. Next-generation sequencing of 16S rDNA was employed to characterize the liquid and solid-associated bacterial communities in the rumen of elk (<i>Cervus canadensis</i>), and white tailed deer (<i>Odocoileus virginianus</i>). Despite variability in the microbial populations between animals, principle component and weighted UniFrac analysis indicated that bacterial communities in the rumen of elk and white tail deer are distinct. Populations clustered according to individual host animal and not the association with liquid or solid phase of the rumen contents. In all instances, <i>Bacteroidetes</i> and <i>Firmicutes</i> were the dominant bacterial phyla, although the relative abundance of these differed among ruminant species and between phases of rumen digesta, respectively. In the elk samples <i>Bacteroidetes</i> were more predominant in the liquid phase whereas <i>Firmicutes</i> was the most prevalent phyla in the solid digesta (P = 1×10⁻⁵). There were also statistically significant differences in the abundance of OTUs classified as <i>Fibrobacteres</i> (P = 5×10⁻³) and <i>Spirochaetes</i> (P = 3×10⁻⁴) in the solid digesta of the elk samples. We identified a number of OTUs that were classified as phylotypes not previously observed in the rumen environment. Our results suggest that although the bacterial diversity in wild North American ruminants shows overall similarities to domesticated ruminants, we observed a number of OTUs not previously described. Previous studies primarily focusing on domesticated ruminants do not fully represent the microbial diversity of the rumen and studies focusing on non-domesticated ruminants should be expanded.</p></div

Weighted-UniFrac comparison of microbial communities found in rumen samples based on Jaccard analysis of 97% similarity.

<p>The P-value is a measure of the significance with which the microbial communities compared differ. P-values of <0.001 are highly significant, 0.001–0.01 are significant, 0.01–0.05 are marginally significant, 0.05–0.1 are suggestive and >0.1 is not significant. P-value ranges indicate the upper and lower limits of the calculation when multiple samples were compared.</p

Diversity of bacterial phyla found in the Liquid (A) and Solid (B) fraction of rumen contents collected from 15 elk.

<p>Samples are arranged from the lowest to highest level of Firmicutes based on the percentage of total reads assigned to that phyla. Numbers along the x-axis indicate the animal identification number each sample was obtained from. The percentage of total reads (x-axis) assigned to each phylum is plotted for all 15 samples (y-axis).</p

Sequence coverage, number of OTUs and richness of rumen samples included in this study at 93% similarity.

<p>Bold samples correspond to rumen solids and italic samples correspond to rumen liquids. The moose sample was mixed and contained both rumen liquid and solid. WTD – white tail deer and E – elk. Samples ending with S or L correspond to solid or liquid phases, respectively.</p