Ruminal microbiota composition associated with ruminal fermentation parameters and milk yield in lactating buffalo in Guangxi, China-A preliminary study

The ruminal microbiota of 15 dairy buffalo was characterized using high-throughput 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing. Results showed that Bacteroidetes was the dominant bacterial phylum in all rumen samples, followed by Firmicutes, Proteobacteria, Tenericutes and Verrucomicrobia. Butyrivibrio was positively correlated with average milk fat yield (R = 0.55; p = 0.03), average milk total solid yield (R = 0.56; p = 0.03) and standard milk yield (R = 0.52; p = 0.05). Acinetobacter were positively correlated with average milk protein yield (R = 0.56; p = 0.03), average milk total solid yield (R = 0.60; p = 0.02) and standard milk yield (R = 0.57; p = 0.03). Acetobacter was positively correlated with acetate (R = 0.63; p = 0.01), propionate content (R = 0.55; p = 0.03), butyrate content (R = 0.61; p = 0.02) and total VFA (R = 0.62; p = 0.01). The phyla Proteobacteria (R = 0.53; p = 0.04) and genus Prevotella (R = 0.52; p = 0.05) were positively correlated with butyrate content. Correlation analysis suggested that increased Butyrivibrio and Acinetobacter residing in the buffalo rumen could improve milk performance.