Metagenomic analysis of the Rumen microbiome reveals functional isoforms drive niche differentiation for nutrient acquisition and use

<p>Metagenomics has provided insights into the species composi- tion and function of the rumen microbial community and revealed that many species seem to share the same genes for acquiring and utilising nutrients. This questions whether niche specialisation between rumen microbes exists and if so, how it is maintained.</p> <p>One possibility is that niche specialisation is not driven by gene presence or absence, but by the diversity of functional isoforms, where we would expect to see isoform diversity to be related to niche specialisation.