Isolation, identification, and phenotyping of novel rumen bacteria

In addition, a MALDI-TOF MS database extension specific to the rumen microbiome was developed, covering 222 new bacterial strains and six archaeal species absent from commercial libraries. This resource substantially improved identification accuracy, enhancing the efficacy of isolation campaigns. Finally, sixteen phylogenetically diverse isolates were profiled on 182 carbohydrate substrates using the Biolog technique.

This revealed both conserved lineage-level metabolic traits and strain-specific differences, providing valuable metabolic information about important rumen bacteria. This work expands our understanding of cultured diversity in the rumen microbiome and provides a valuable resource, the rumen-specific MALDI-TOF MS database, to improve rumen microbial identification. Finally, our results may also enable the biotechnological exploitation of the rumen microbiome by providing potential direct-fed microbials (DFMs) that will allow re-direction of hydrogen produced during fermentation away from methane biochemical pathways, potentially enhancing efficiency and sustainability of ruminant production.<br><br><i>Thesis is embargoed until 31 July 2028.</i><br>