Livestock diets are complicated. Full of complex carbohydrates and other inaccessible nutrients, poorly balanced feed can lead to the overproduction of methane gas and contribute to climate change. Improving animal digestion to lower greenhouse gas emissions while also keeping animals happy and healthy is essential… and complicated.
Microbiologists Dr. Wade Abbott and Dr. Greta Reintjes know that when it comes to improving livestock digestion, "complicated" is putting it lightly. Though they both share a passion for the complicated world of microbes, it was a different c-word that brought them together: collaboration.
A microscopic mystery
Dr. Wade Abbott, a research scientist with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC), didn’t grow up mesmerized by microbes. In fact, it wasn’t until his later university years that he found his career calling: scientific research.
What is a rumen microbiome?
The rumen microbiome is the community of bacteria inside the digestive system of a grazing animal or "ruminant" (cattle, sheep, goats, etc.). This bacterial community is located inside of the rumen, one of the four stomachs of a ruminant. The rumen microbiome is essential for metabolizing the plants these animals eat.
Since 2011, he has spent his days at the Lethbridge Research and Development Center trying to solve the mystery of the rumen microbiome. Wade theorized that prebiotics (a type of fiber that helps healthy bacteria grow in the stomach) and diet might be the key to improving digestion in livestock. His goal was to optimize feed and lower methane production, all while simultaneously improving the animals’ health.
But like any good mystery, the answers didn’t come easy.
To study the reaction between feed and rumen bacteria, Wade and his team gave livestock a feed sample, waited for it to be digested, and then studied the findings. Needless to say, this approach was less than ideal. "You can feed something a certain food and see what changes, but you don’t know why it’s changing. You just know that it’s different," says Wade.
What he needed was a better way to study the intricacies of the bacteria-feed relationship.
What he didn’t know was that a brilliant marine microbiology student at a research center in Germany, the Max Planck Institute, had developed a technique that could change rumen research forever.
A fluorescent future
PhD candidate Greta Reintjes spent her life fascinated by the ocean. But, while others admired its beauty on the surface, Greta wanted to look deeper: "There are so many microbes in the sea, but no one was telling me about them!" So, she dove headfirst into the deep end of the microscopic world.
Like Wade, she studied how sugars were broken down in bacterial communities. However, where Wade hit a roadblock on the turf, Greta found a solution in the surf.
Using a pre-existing labelling method, Greta discovered she could use a high-resolution microscope and fluorescent dye to watch the reaction between sugars and bacteria. Adding fluorescent dye to sugars allowed Greta to track them and watch which ones were metabolized by certain bacteria.
Her world collided with Wade’s when he travelled to Germany to give a lecture on his research. Curious whether his work could inform her own, Greta sat in the audience and an idea began to blossom: what if she used her techniques to help Wade? It would be a game-changer for rumen research!
When they met after the lecture, Wade and Greta were thrilled at how much their respective projects aligned, despite working in different ecosystems. They wanted to get started on a project right then and there, but new research projects required time and money, two huge asks that neither of them had to spare.
And so, Wade returned to Canada, and Greta continued her PhD in Germany. He’d given her some samples as a parting gift, hoping to one day reconnect.
Two years later, a famous scientist named Marie Curie finally gave them the chance.
From fellowship to partnership
As Greta approached the end of her PhD, she couldn’t ignore the exciting potential awaiting within Wade’s rumen samples. With good reason, too: the moment she placed them under the microscope, their research project unfolded before her eyes.
The Marie Sklodowska-Curie fellowship
One of the most prestigious scholarships in science, this global research fellowship, funded by the European Union (EU), involves a collaboration between scientists from different countries. The fellow has to choose a research institution outside of the EU where they will research a current or future issue in their field of study with a mentor. After that, the fellow then returns to a European institution to complete their research there.
Needing a way to Wade’s lab, Greta successfully applied for the Marie Sklodowska-Curie fellowship and finally got to the great white north in 2019.
For the next two years, the pair combined Greta’s microscopic methods with Wade’s rumen research. They tested how different prebiotics affected the digestive system, looking to improve feed and encourage healthy bacterial growth within the stomachs of livestock.
Neither Wade or Greta could have imagined the impact of their work. They created a new labelling method for microbial communities, which opened new opportunities for scientists. Even after Greta returned to Germany in 2021 for the final year of her fellowship, she and Wade continued to collaborate by studying sugars from fungi, seaweed, and plants, hoping to find a sustainable solution for livestock feed.
"This just shows the importance of travelling and building relationships," Wade says. "These types of things cannot be manufactured by email or in virtual chatrooms. I think that’s a really important part of building a scientific career, and Greta being awarded that scholarship and coming to Canada is evidence of what can happen."
By networking and fostering relationships, opportunities for amazing collaborations can be found in unexpected places. Sometimes they’re right beside you. And sometimes they’re a hop, skip, and jump across the pond.
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