The impact of short-term acute heat stress on the rumen microbiome of Hanwoo steers

Heat stress negatively affects cattle productivity by reducing feed intake. In the present study, we assessed if the rumen microbiome composition of Hanwoo steers was altered by exposure to heat stress. Rumen samples were collected from four Hanwoo steers that were individually housed in climate-controlled chambers with 60% humidity and environmental temperatures of: 1) 15℃ (0-day group), 2) 35℃ for 3 days (3-day group), and 3) 35℃ for 6 days (6-day group). The total community DNA of samples was extracted, and 997,843 bacterial and 1,508,770 archaeal sequences were analyzed using next-generation sequencing. Assessment of the relative abundances revealed 15 major phyla of which Bacteroidetes was found to be the most dominant. After 3 days of heat stress exposure there were no significant changes in the rumen microbiome composition, except for a decrease in the Planctomycetes. However, after 6 days of heat stress exposure, we found that the relative abundance of fibrolytic Ruminococcaceae had decreased while that of lactate-producing Lactobacillaceae and amylolytic Prevotella and Ruminobacter had increased. The normal rumen microbiome of Hanwoo cattle was shown to be disrupted after 6 days of heat stress, which led to the decrease in fibrolytic bacteria that are sensitive to low pH and the increase in both lactate-producing and amylolytic bacteria. We have demonstrated that the microbiome composition of the rumen is affected by acute heat stress. Our findings may contribute to the development of different feeding strategies to restore heat stress-induced disruption of the rumen microbiome.