Monensin Alters the Functional and Metabolomic Profile of Rumen Microbiota in Beef Cattle

To identify differences in rumen function as a result of feeding monensin to beef cattle, rumen fluid metagenomics and metabolomics analyses were used to evaluate the functional attributes and metabolites of rumen microbiota in beef steers fed no or 200 mg/d of monensin. Eight rumen-fistulated steers were used in the study for a period of 53 days. Rumen fluid samples were collected on the last day of the experiment. Monensin increased the...