The Comparative Analysis of the Ruminal Bacterial Population in Reindeer (Rangifer tarandus L.) from the Russian Arctic Zone: Regional and Seasonal Effects

• Published in: Animals
• Main Authors: Ilina, Larisa A., Filippova, Valentina A., Brazhnik, Evgeni A., Dubrovin, Andrey V., Yildirim, Elena A., Dunyashev, Timur P., Laptev, Georgiy Y., Novikova, Natalia I., Sobolev, Dmitriy V., Yuzhakov, Aleksandr A., Laishev, Kasim A.
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI 2021
• Subjects: Article; Arctic; nenets; Rangifer tarandus; Tundra
• Online Access: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8004722/; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani11030911

SIMPLE SUMMARY: The reindeer (Rangifer tarandus) is a unique ruminant that lives in arctic areas characterized by severe living conditions. Low temperatures and a scarce diet containing a high proportion of hard-to-digest components have contributed to the development of several adaptations that allow reindeer to have a successful existence in the Far North region. These adaptations include the microbiome of the rumen—a digestive organ in ruminants that is responsible for crude fiber digestion through the enzymatic activity of microorganisms. In this study, research was conducted on the ruminal microbiome of reindeer of the Nenets breed living in various climatic zones of the Russian Arctic (in the Yamalo-Nenetski Autonomous District and Nenetski Autonomous District. The impacts of the habitat, season of the year, sex, and age factors on the rumen microbiome were investigated. As a result, it was found that significant differences in the reindeer ruminal microbiome composition are associated with the region of habitat and change of seasons that the reindeer are exposed to. The distinctions mainly come down to different ratios of bacteria involved in the metabolism of volatile fatty acids and cellulose decomposition in the rumen, which is apparently a reflection of the different plant components in the diet in different regions and seasons. ABSTRACT: The reindeer (Rangifer tarandus L.) is a unique animal inhabitant of arctic regions. Low ambient temperatures and scant diets (primarily, lichens) have resulted in different evolutional adaptations, including the composition of the ruminal microbiota. In the study presented here, the effects of seasonal and regional aspects of the composition of the ruminal microbiota in reindeer (Nenets breed, 38 animals) were studied (wooded tundra from the Yamalo-Nenetski Autonomous District (YNAD) vs. from the Nenetski Autonomous District (NAD)). The ruminal content of calves (n = 12) and adult animals (n = 26, 15 males and 11 females) was sampled in the summer (n = 16) and ...