Dr Marc D Auffret

Selected research projects

• Zoetis Belgium SA: The use of intestinal microbiota as a biomarker for swine wellness and performance (2017-2018; £110,175).
• SRUC and EU PhD studentship: The use of networks of rumen microbial genes associated with performance traits for precision breeding and nutrition in beef cattle (£73,512; 2016-2020).
• Scottish Government RESAS: Strategies to use rumen microbial information in beef genetic improvement (£443,255; 2016-2021).
• BBSRC UK: Understanding the functional and genomic architecture of the rumen microbiome affecting performance traits in bovines (2016-2019, £382,888).
• SRUC REF Funding: Investment to ground Scottish capability in rumen microbiology and systems biology at SRUC (2016-2017; £78,294)

Teaching

Tutorial session on Animal Breeding & Genetics Module (Year 4).

Selected publications

• Auffret, M.D., Stewart, R., Dewhurst, R.J., Duthie, C-A., Rooke, J.A., Wallace, R.J., Freeman, T.C., Snelling, T.J., Watson, M., Roehe, R. 2018. Identification, comparison and validation of robust rumen microbial biomarkers for methane emissions using diverse Bos Taurus breeds and basal diets. Front. Microbiol. 8:e02548.
• Meale, S.J., Auffret, M.D., Watson, M., Morgavi, D.P., Cantalapiedra-Hijar, G., Duthie, C-A., Roehe, R., Dewhurst, R.J. 2018. Fat accretion measurements strengthen the relationship between feed conversion efficiency and Nitrogen isotopic discrimination while rumen microbial genes contribute little. Sci Rep. 8:3854.
• Stewart, R., Auffret, M., Warr, A., Snelling, T., Dewhurst, R.J., Walker, A., Roehe, R., Watson, M. 2017. Assembly of hundreds of microbial genomes from the cow rumen reveals novel microbial species encoding enzymes with roles in carbohydrate metabolism. Nature Communication 9:870.
• Auffret, M.D., Dewhurst, R.J., Duthie, C-A., Rooke, J.A., Wallace, R.J., Freeman, T.C., Stewart, R., Watson, M., Roehe, R. 2017. The rumen microbiome as a reservoir of antimicrobial resistance and pathogenicity genes is directly affected by diet in beef cattle. Microbiome 5, 159.
• Karhu, K., Auffret, M.D., Dungait, J.A.J., Hopkins, D.W., Prosser, J.I., Singh, B.K., Subke, J.A., Wookey, P.A., Ågren, G.I., Sebastià, M.T., Gouriveau, F., Bergkvist, G., Meir, P., Nottingham, A.T., Hartley, I.P. 2014. Temperature sensitivity of soil respiration rates enhanced by microbial community response. Nature 513(7516):81-84.

Link to SRUC Repository