Novel insights into heat tolerance using metabolomic and high-throughput sequencing analysis in dairy cows rumen fluid

Heat stress influences rumen fermentative processes with effects on the physiology and production of dairy cows. However, the underlying relationship between rumen microbiota and its associated metabolism with heat tolerance in cows have not been extensively described yet. Therefore, the main objective of this study was to investigate differential heat resistance in Holstein cows using rumen bacterial and metabolome analyses. We performed both principal component analysis and membership function analysis to select seven heat-tolerant (HT) and seven heat-sensitive (HS) cows. Under heat stress conditions, the HT cows had a significantly (P < 0.05) higher propionic acid content than the HS cows; while measures of the respiratory rate, acetic, and butyric acid in the HT cows were significantly (P < 0.05) lower compared with the HS cows. Also, the HT cows showed lower (P < 0.01) rectal temperature and acetic acid to propionic acid ratio than the HS group of cows. Omics sequencing revealed that the relative abundances of Muribaculaceae, Rikenellaceae, Acidaminococcaceae, Christensenellaceae, Rikenellaceae_RC9_gut_group, Succiniclasticum, Ruminococcaceae_NK4A214_group and Christensenellaceae_R-7_group were significantly (P < 0.01) higher in the HT cows; whereas Prevotellaceae, Prevotella_1, Ruminococcaceae_UCG-014, and Shuttleworthia were significantly (P < 0.01) lower in HT cows compared to HS cows. Substances mainly involved in carbohydrate metabolism, including glycerol, mannitol, and maltose, showed significantly higher content in the HT cows (P < 0.05) compared to that in the HS cows. Simultaneously, distinct metabolites were significantly correlated with differential bacteria, suggesting that glycerol, mannitol, and maltose could serve as potential biomarkers for determining heat resistance that require further study. Overall, distinct changes in the rumen microbiota and metabolomics in the HT cows may be associated with a better adaptability to heat stress. These findings suggest their use as diagnostic tools of heat tolerance in dairy cattle breeding schemes.