Enhancing digestibility of native pastures by cattle using kangaroo fibrolytic bacteria

Summary

This project investigated whether plant fibrolytic bacteria from the kangaroo gut could establish stable populations in cattle and improve digestion of native pastures. Four fibrolytic bacterial isolates were evaluated. All except one species failed to persist when introduced to a rumen-based fermentation in vitro and unfortunately all rapidly disappeared when inoculated into the rumen of rumen cannulated cattle. Analysis of kangaroo forestomach contents from 42 kangaroos indicated that the fibrolytic bacteria that had been evaluated were unlikely to be the dominant fibrolytic species in vivo, suggesting a culture-based bias towards these fibrolytic species. Culture-independent, DNA-based techniques have now provided a more accurate picture of the dominant fibrolytic community in the kangaroo gut. However, additional research would be required to isolate, characterise and assess the ability of these fibrolytic bacteria to colonise the rumen and improve the digestion of native pastures.