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Project title

RU_MINING

Primary Funding Agency

DAFM

Co-Funding Organisation(s)

n/a

Lead Organisation

Teagasc

Lead Applicant

n/a

Project Abstract

The work plan will draw upon the Irish and New Zealand research teams� previous successful collaboration and collective expertise in Lactic Acid Bacteria and rumen microbiology. The NZ team will address endogenous lactate formation and metabolism in the rumen, by obtaining quantitative measurements of lactate pools and fluxes in rumen contents, by enriching for and isolating new representative organisms involved in lactate metabolism and by constructing microbial consortia and using stable isotope probing to develop an overview of interactions between the different bacteria involved in lactate metabolism, and the biochemical pathways utilized. Selected lactate-producing and utilizing rumen bacteria will be dosed into lambs to determine if a low methane yield phenotype can be established. The Irish team will use a multi-omics approach to determine key microbes and rumen fermentation pathways associated with a low RME phenotype in beef cattle and examine differences in virome content and load between high and low emitting cattle to identify phage-host dynamics that could be linked with methane emission levels. The ability of exogenous Lactic Acid Bacteria strains to reduce methane production will be investigated via in vitro rumen fermentations and their performance in silage assessed. Strains showing best performance in both respects will be used in in vivo studies in cattle to assess their impact on methane emissions, milk production and milk quality over an entire lactation period. Selected bacterial strains will also be dosed into calves to determine if low methane yield phenotypes can be established. This research will result in the development of silage inoculants and direct-fed microbials (DFMs) that facilitate methane reduction and as such could accelerate emerging mitigation options and/or identify new opportunities. This research is poised to enhance Ireland�s and New Zealand�s leadership on how greenhouse gas emissions from livestock farming are understood and addressed with practical microbiome-based solutions.

Grant Approved

�1,992,713.39

Research Hub

n/a

Research Theme

Climate Solutions, Transition Management and Opportunities

Start Date

01/01/2023

Initial Projected Completion Date

31/12/2026