Comparative analysis of digestive ecosystems in the rumen of the cow and in the caecum of the rabbit

Abstract

In this review we compiled the data obtained by our team and those found in the bibliography in order to improve understanding of the ecology of bacterial and archaeal communities of digestive fermenters from herbivorous mammals. We performed a comparative analysis of the fermenters of two animal models, the cow and rabbit, whose digestive physiologies are representative of the two major evolutionary strategies encountered in mammalian herbivores. After recalling the anatomical and physico-chemical properties of these digestive fermenters, we analyzed the specificities of their prokaryotic communities: related to the host, individual variability, spatial (inter-and intra- digestive fermenters) and temporal dynamics (daily and weekly) with or without induced nutritional perturbation.