Pedigreed features of the intestinal microbiota of sheep and its relationship with greenhouse gas emissions and the metabolic profile of blood
Abstract
In order to identify the pedigreed features of the intestinal microbiota of Dorper and Romanovskaya sheep, which determine the release of greenhouse gases and the metabolic profile of blood in the Moscow region in 2025, an experiment was conducted on adult sheep of the Dorper (n=10) and Romanovskaya (n=10) breeds. The animals received a diet containing 1.7 kg of CB, 14.47 MJ of OE and 220 g of crude protein per head per day (1.6 kg of grain and grass hay + concentrate OK-80 400 g). At the end of the preliminary study period (30 days). The release of methane and carbon dioxide in animals was determined in vivo in respiratory chambers, blood samples were taken for biochemical and hematological analysis, and the contents of the rectum were assessed by real-time PCR using the Colonoflor-16 (premium) kit. The total bacterial mass was 11.20–11.23 log10 DNA copies/ml, dominated by Bacteroides spp. (8.83–8.93) and Bifidobacterium spp. (8.22–8.43). The breed factor did not significantly affect the abundance of most taxa and gas formation (p>0.05). Breed differences in the interaction of bacteria with methanogens have been established: the Romanov breed has a competitive strategy (negative correlation of Bacteroides spp . with methane per 1 kg of live weight, r=-0.677; total bacterial mass with daily methane, r=-0.585), in dorpers – cooperative (positive correlation of Bifidobacterium spp. with methane per 1 kg of consumed dry matter, r=+0.589). In dorpers, Escherichia coli positively correlated with the daily release of CO ₂ (r=+0.667, p<0.05) and with CO ₂ per 1 kg of dry matter (r=+0.787, p<0.05). In the Romanov breed, Bifidobacterium spp . positively correlated with albumins (r=+0.79, p<0.05) and negatively with globulins (r=-0.77, p<0.05) and triglycerides (r=-0.68, p<0.05). The results can be used to develop breed-specific animal feeding strategies.