Yu Zhongtang, Yan Ming, Somasundaram Sripoorna
Department of Animal Sciences, Center of Microbiome Science, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210.
JDS Commun. 2024 Feb 1;5(3):236-240. doi: 10.3168/jdsc.2023-0433. eCollection 2024 May.
The rumen microbiome digests plant feedstuff that would be otherwise indigestible and provides most of the metabolizable energy and protein the host animals need. Until recently, research efforts have primarily been directed to bacteria and archaea, leaving the protozoa, fungi, and viruses much less understood. Protozoa contribute to feed digestion and fermentation, but as predators, they affect the microbiome and its function by regulating the abundance and activities of other rumen microbes both in a top-down (by directly killing the prey) and bottom-up (by affecting the metabolism of other microbes) manner. Rumen viruses (or phages, used interchangeably below) are diverse and abundant but the least understood. They are also predators (intracellular "predators") because of their lytic lifecycle, although they can co-exist peacefully with their hosts and reprogram host metabolism, buttressing host ecological fitness. In doing so, rumen viruses also affect the rumen microbiome in both a top-down and a bottom-up manner. Here we review the recent advancement in understanding both types of predators, focusing on their potential impact on the rumen microbiome and functions.
瘤胃微生物群可消化原本难以消化的植物饲料，并提供宿主动物所需的大部分可代谢能量和蛋白质。直到最近，研究工作主要集中在细菌和古菌上，对原生动物、真菌和病毒的了解要少得多。原生动物有助于饲料消化和发酵，但作为捕食者，它们通过自上而下（直接杀死猎物）和自下而上（影响其他微生物的代谢）的方式调节其他瘤胃微生物的丰度和活性，从而影响微生物群及其功能。瘤胃病毒（或噬菌体，以下可互换使用）种类繁多且数量丰富，但了解最少。由于其裂解生命周期，它们也是捕食者（细胞内“捕食者”），尽管它们可以与宿主和平共存并重新编程宿主代谢，增强宿主的生态适应性。在此过程中，瘤胃病毒也以自上而下和自下而上的方式影响瘤胃微生物群。在这里，我们综述了在理解这两种捕食者方面的最新进展，重点关注它们对瘤胃微生物群及其功能的潜在影响。
