Molecular tools for deciphering the microbial community structure and diversity in rumen ecosystem.
Rumen microbial community comprising of bacteria, archaea, fungi, and protozoa is characterized not only by the high population density but also by the remarkable diversity and the most complex microecological interactions existing in the biological world. This unprecedented biodiversity is quite far from full elucidation as only about 15-20 % of the rumen microbes are identified and characterized till date using conventional culturing and microscopy. However, the last two decades have witnessed a paradigm shift from cumbersome and time-consuming classical methods to nucleic acid-based molecular approaches for deciphering the rumen microbial community. These techniques are rapid, reproducible and allow both the qualitative and quantitative assessment of microbial diversity. This review describes the different molecular methods and their applications in elucidating the rumen microbial community.
Nutrition Biotechnology Laboratory, Dairy Cattle Nutrition Division, National Dairy Research Institute, Karnal, 132001, Haryana, India. nutritionbiotechnology@gmail.com
Sunil Kumar
SK
Sirohi
Nasib
N
Singh
Sumit Singh
SS
Dagar
Anil Kumar
AK
Puniya
D000818:Animals; D001105:Archaea / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics; D001419:Bacteria / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics; D058448:Biota; D016798:Ciliophora / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics; D017753:Ecosystem; D005658:Fungi / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics; D056186:Metagenomics / Q000379:methods*; D012417:Rumen / Q000382:microbiology*