Professor Richard Dewhurst

• Gene-centric and 16S-based rumen metagenomics
• Nitrogen isotopic fractionation as a marker for feed efficiency
• Markers/proxies for rumen methane production, with a particular focus on techniques for grazing cattle: ether lipids; faecal NIR spectroscopy; isotopic fractionation
• Diagnostic components of breath (hydrogen sulphide) and milk headspace (acetone)
• High-throughput analysis of faeces (NIR; laser diffraction analysis)

I also have an enduring interest in ruminant fatty acid metabolism – herbage fatty acids; rumen biohydrogenation; fatty acids in milk and meat.                                                      

Previous work included modelling of forage composition, dry cow feeding strategies, forages and fatty acids, fatty acids and fertility, and rumen diagnostics. Some work used directly by the animal feed industry – notably feed evaluation systems, feed values and dry cow strategies. Much more of my work has been used by farmers and advisers – notably to develop advice and models to predict and increase forage intakes, improve the utilisation of feed protein (reduce N pollution), improve milk composition, and facilitate the use of forage legumes in conventional and organic farming.

Selected research projects

• BBSRC: Understanding the functional and genomic architecture of the rumen microbiome affecting performance traits in bovines.
• Innovate UK: Evaluating a potential proxy test for Feed Conversion Efficiency in beef cattle.
• EU Horizon 2020: Development of an easy-to-use metagenomics platform for agricultural science.
• DEFRA: Improving the sustainability and competitive position of the UK beef industry through selective breeding.
• FACCE/JPI: RumenStability: Understanding the development and control of stability in the rumen microbiome as a basis for new strategies to reduce methanogenesis.

PhD students

• Jenna Bowen
• Irene Cabeza (Associate Supervisor)
• Rhea Kyriazopoulou
• Harry Kamilaris
• Miguel Soley (Associate Supervisor)
• Riccardo Bica

Selected publications

• Roehe, R., Dewhurst, R.J., Duthie, C.-A., Rooke, J.A., McKain, N., Ross, D.W. Hyslop, J.J., Waterhouse, A., Freeman, T.C., Watson, M. and Wallace, R.J. (2016). Bovine host genetic variation influences rumen microbial methane production with best selection criterion for low methane emitting and efficiently feed converting hosts based on metagenomic gene abundance. PLoS Genetics 12: e1005846.
• Cheng, L. Edwards, G.R., Dewhurst, R.J., Nicol, A.M. and Pacheco, D. (2016). The effect of dietary water soluble carbohydrate to nitrogen ratio on nitrogen partitioning and isotopic fractionation of lactating goats offered a high-nitrogen diet. Animal 10: 779-785.
• Cheng, L., Logan, C.M., Dewhurst, R.J., Hodge, S., Zhou, H and Edwards, G.R. (2015). Effects of feed intake and genetics on tissue nitrogen-15 enrichment and feed conversion efficiency in sheep. Journal of Animal Science 93: 5849-5855.
• McCartney, C.A., Dewhurst, R.J. and Bull, I.D. (2014). Changes in the ratio of tetraether to diether lipids in cattle feces in response to altered dietary ratio of grass silage and concentrates. Journal of Animal Science 92: 4095-4098.
• Wheadon, N.M., McGee, M., Edwards, G.R. and Dewhurst, R.J. (2014). Relationship between Nitrogen isotopic fractionation, measured in plasma, and feed conversion efficiency of growing beef heifers. British Journal of Nutrition 111: 1705-1711.

See all of Richard Dewhurst's publications.