The fatty acid composition of solid- and liquid-associated rumen bacteria isolated from cows

The distinctive (phospholipid or total) fatty acid profiles of the major classes of micro-organism have been used in microbial taxonomy as well as to act as microbial markers in soils. Our studies seek to identify the potential of this approach in rumen studies. One of the main distinctions is between solid- and liquid-associated bacteria (SAB and LAB) in the rumen, though it is not clear what relative contributions these make to microbial yield from the rumen. The objective of this work was to determine whether SAB and LAB have distinctive fatty acid profiles and if differences are affected by dietary fat supplementation.