• Home
• News
• Kangaroo gut microbiota may make cattle farming greener

Kangaroo gut microbiota may make cattle farming greener

Posted 10 months ago by Jacob in General Health News

Methane from farm animals, particularly cattle, account for a few percent of global greenhouse gas emissions, and this statistic is forecast to double over the next fifty years. However, a solution for a more sustainable method of cattle farming may have been found from a very unlikely source: the kangaroo. Kangaroos, and marsupials in general, produce much less methane in their burps, flatus and manure than farm animals such as cattle. Scientists from Australia's Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) have identified a specific bacterium within the gut of the Tammar Wallaby that is able to digest their food without making as much methane. Typically, the Tammar Wallably produces one fifth less methane per unit of food digested than cattle. The bacterium responsible is a newly discovered strain of the Succinivibrionaceae genus which was grown on a specially designed culture to resemble the conditions of the wallaby's gut. During fermentation the bacteria did not produce methane but a compound of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen known as succinate. As well as producing far less methane the bacterium is far more efficient in processing food, extracting more nutrition from plant material.

Members of the Sucinivibrionaceae genus are found naturally in the guts of many plant-eating animals, including cattle, but are not found to dominant the digestive functions as they do in marsupials. Scientists hope that they can manipulate the microflora of cattle as to make the Succinivibrionaceae more effective within cattle. Lead researcher, Mark Morrison of CSIRO explains, "Our long-term goal is to redirect feed digestion in livestock away from methane formation, and instead produce more end products that are nutritious for the animal. By doing so, we should have a positive impact on animal productivity and the environment." The research project was headed by Australia's CSIRO with contributions from an international team of scientists from the US, Norway and Germany.

^{Reference: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-13946941}