In the digestive tract, especially in ruminants where the fermentation of plants creates a lot of hydrogen, the presence of methanogens acts a hydrogen sink and can prevent the build up of hydrogen which would otherwise lower the gut pH and be detrimental to both host and microbes. To date, it is unclear if methanogens have any other health effect. Protozoa are single-celled eukaryotes, and depending on which species they are, can be beneficial or pathogenic. Typically, protozoa in the digestive tract of humans or other monogastrics are pathogens obtained from drinking contaminated water.
However, the digestive tracts of monogastrics (ex. moose) are very different, and the later can support a much different microbial community. Specifically, protozoa found in ruminants that have cilia to move around (i.e. ciliated protozoa or ciliates) can have a number of roles, including fermentation of fiber or starch, or predation of bacteria and fungi.
Moose methanogen communities were significantly different between moose in Vermont, Norway, and Alaska, but maintained a core of shared taxa across all populations.Īs they are so difficult to maintain in culture and study in the lab, the role of protozoa in contributing to host health or methanogenesis is understudied.
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