. 2017 Mar 24;7:422. doi: 10.1038/s41598-017-00500-5

Table 2.

Change of relative abundance (%) of active methanogenic genera in four fractions during rumen development^a–e.

Fraction	Age (d)¹							SEM²	Significance (P<)³
Fraction	1	10	20	38	41	50	60	SEM²	Fraction	Age	Fraction × Age
Methanobrevibacter
RS	—⁴	—	34.77^bBC	61.15^aB	23.23^bB	36.89^b	36.95^bA	0.682	<0.01	NS	<0.01
RL	45.21^b	28.70^c	25.08^cdC	62.22^aB	11.95^dB	31.40^c	13.93^dB			C (<0.01)
RP	—	—	65.78^bA	81.65^aA	59.77^bA	40.17^c	35.67^cA			C (<0.05)
RE	42.20^a	38.07^a	38.43^aB	47.92^aB	20.73^bB	32.48^ab	31.52^abA			NS
Candidatus Methanomethylophilus
RS	—	—	55.04^aA	13.29^cAB	35.04^abA	13.43^c	28.57^bB	0.744	<0.01	Q (<0.01)	<0.01
RL	38.50^bc	59.27^a	65.66^aA	26.62^cdA	51.93^abA	14.77^d	53.15^abA			C (<0.01)
RP	—	—	31.12^abB	6.10^cB	14.25^bcB	4.62^c	47.03^aA			Q (<0.01)
RE	37.52^ab	52.65^a	49.96^aA	26.47^bcA	33.54^abA	23.45^bc	16.98^cB			Q (<0.05)
Methanosphaera
RS	—	—	1.42^d	23.44^aA	6.62^cAB	15.23^bAB	16.26^bB	0.137	<0.01	C (<0.05)	<0.01
RL	9.19^a	8.30^a	0.43^c	7.79^aB	1.27^bcC	5.10^abC	3.22^abcC			C (<0.05)
RP	—	—	0.86^c	10.54^aB	4.22^bB	12.05^aB	6.84^abC			Q (<0.05)
RE	10.03^d	7.04^de	1.40^e	23.75^abA	10.08^cdA	20.32^bcA	35.39^aA			Q (<0.01)
Methanomicrobium
RS	—	—	5.32^bc	0.23^c	23.10^aA	13.17^abAB	14.75^abAB	0.784	<0.01	NS	NS
RL	3.59^bc	0.06^c	0.59^c	0.37^c	27.37^aA	17.13^abA	27.55^abA			L (<0.01)
RP	—	—	0.08	0.11	3.60^B	1.83^B	2.82^B			L (<0.05)
RE	7.44^bc	0.14^c	4.46^bc	0.44^c	27.02^aA	6.46^bcAB	14.35^abAB			L (<0.01)
Methanobacterium
RS	—	—	0.02	0.03	0.02^AB	0.02	0.03^A	0.001	NS	NS	NS
RL	0.01	0.01	0.01	0.03	0.01^AB	0.01	0.01^B			Q (<0.05)
RP	—	—	0.01	0.02	0.02^A	0.01	0.01^B			NS
RE	0.02^b	0.04^a	0.02^ab	0.02^ab	0.01^abB	0.02^ab	0.02^abAB			NS
Methanimicrococcus
RS	—	—	2.61^b	0.44^b	11.17^a	20.22^aBC	2.57^b	0.488	<0.05	C (<0.01)	NS
RL	0.37^c	0.02^c	3.15^c	0.02^c	6.27^b	29.65^aAB	1.24^c			C (<0.01)
RP	—	—	1.49^cd	0.13^d	17.22^b	40.09^aA	6.96^c			C (<0.01)
RE	1.40^b	0.23^b	4.05^b	0.29^b	7.91^a	15.20^aC	0.85^b			C (<0.01)

Means within a row for days that do not have a common superscript differ (P < 0.05);^A–CMeans within a column for fractions that do not have a common superscript differ (P < 0.05). ¹Samples on 50 d and 60 d were collected from goats fed the control diet; SEM ²represents SEM for fraction × age; ³NS = not significant (P > 0.05), L = Linear effect of age, Q = Quadratic effect of age, C = Cubic effect of age; ⁴No data due to the absence of samples.