Identifying existing research that could help the dairy industry reduce methane emissions by dairy cattle is a major goal for the Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy and the Cow of the Future project. In order to develop effective mitigation practices, researchers need to identify the ruminal microbes involved in methane production and understand the substrates and biochemical pathways used to produce methane.
Researchers recently described in detail a group of poorly understood ruminal microbes that produce methane by degrading methylamines. Methylamines are organic compounds produced in the rumen from the degradation of choline-containing plant lipids. (Poulsen M, Schwab C, Jensen BB, et al.Methylotrophic methanogenic Thermoplasmata implicated in reduced methane emissions from bovine rumen. Nat Commun. 2013;4:1428.)The microbes are referred to as "rumen cluster C" or ruminal Thermoplasmata and their numbers and metabolic activity are reduced when lactating cow diets are supplemented with rapeseed oil.
These findings are important because rumen cluster C microbes have been observed in many ruminants worldwide and open new possibilities for methane mitigation strategies that either target this new microbial group directly or inhibit their activity indirectly by feeding diets that reduce methylamine availability in the rumen. PD
—From Dairy Research Insights
