The Royal Veterinary College (RVC) has been awarded a £1,200,000 grant from the Bezos Earth Fund to explore how methane-producing microorganisms colonise the gastro-intestinal (GI) tract of calves in the first six weeks of life and how they impact the developing immune system.
The research will provide vital information on the optimal way to administer any potential vaccine to reduce methane production from livestock, thus reducing methane emissions. This project, undertaken with the Estación Experimental del Zaidín of the Spanish National Research Council, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones (CSIC), is the first of its kind, bringing together scientists with unique expertise, and could significantly contribute to the fight against climate change.
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Livestock agriculture accounts for approximately 14 per cent of greenhouse gas emissions globally. Therefore, if livestock-based methane emissions could be controlled effectively without affecting productivity, then, in combination with existing methods, such control could significantly reduce the pace of climate change.
Enteric fermentation
Methane emissions are released mainly from enteric fermentation, the digestive process that breaks down grass and hay fibres for the generation and absorption of nutrients. Recent analysis has identified that the main intervention to reduce this type of methane production is to directly target the microorganism that produces it - methanogenic archaea.
There has already been considerable research looking at how to control the production and formation of methane in the largest stomach of domestic livestock. Previous studies have indicated the potential of vaccines as a sustainable approach to reducing this methane production by impacting on methane-producing archaea - in part because this approach doesn’t require daily access to the animals. However, little is currently known about if and how methanogens are detected and controlled by the immune system.
This RVC study aims to fill this knowledge gap and determine when methanogenic archaea colonise in the GI-tract, how they spread through the GI-tract in the first weeks of a calf’s life and how they potentially interact with the animal’s immune system.
Archaea colonisation
The study team, led by Professor Dirk Werling, Professor of Molecular Immunology and Director of the Centre for Vaccinology and Regenerative Medicine at the RVC, in close collaboration with Dr David Yanez-Ruiz, Research Group Leader at CSIC, will establish the pattern of methanogenic archaea’s colonisation. To do this, they will collect blood, saliva, ingesta and colostrum samples from Holstein-Friesian calves and their mothers. They will then analyse the samples to identify microbes and create cultures that can be shared for further analysis, as well as modifying and testing the methanogen.
The data collected throughout this process will provide substantial new information to inform the development of a methanogen vaccine.
Dirk Werling, lead researcher and Professor of Molecular Immunology at the RVC, said: “I am extremely proud of being part of this project, which brings together colleagues working in different fields of animal health in a very unique way. I believe that the funding we obtained from Bezos Earth Fund will enable us to perform research on a topic which affects us all, global warming, but in a way that both animals and humans benefit from it.”
Climate impact
Oliver Pybus, Vice Principal for Research and Innovation and Professor of Infectious Diseases at the RVC, said: “We are grateful to the Bezos Earth Fund for supporting this project, which offers an exciting new approach to reducing the climate impact of livestock production.”
Dr David Yanez-Ruiz, Research Group Leader at CSIC, said: “The collaboration between RVC and CSIC supported by the Bezos Earth Fund is a unique opportunity to bring together rumen microbiology and immunology expertise that will enable us to understand how rumen microbes and the animal establish their dialogue from early life.”
The Bezos Earth Fund has also granted funding to the Pirbright Institute for a separate project to develop an understanding of what antibodies are needed to produce a response to a potential methanogen vaccine. Together, these two distinct pieces of research will improve understanding of methane production in calves and whether a vaccine will be a feasible solution.
Vaccination strategy
Professor John Hammond, Director of Research at The Pirbright Institute, said: “To cut global methane emissions by 30%, low frequency interventions are essential. Vaccination is a widely accepted farming practice that is auditable and can be used in combination with other strategies, such as chemical inhibition, selection for low methane genetics, or early-life interventions to permanently alter microbiome composition in neo-natal calves.”
Dr Andy Jarvis, Director of the Future of Food at the Bezos Earth Fund, said: “This project represents a moonshot in our efforts to reduce livestock methane emissions. The potential to apply the proven success of vaccines in global health to cattle and significantly cut emissions is both ambitious and exciting. By supporting high-risk, high-reward research like this, the Bezos Earth Fund is investing in innovative solutions with the potential for a profound global impact.”
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