Genome-wise engineering of ruminant nutrition – nutrigenomics: applications, challenges, and future perspectives – A review

Use of genomic information in ruminant production systems can help alleviating concerns related to food security and sustainability of production. Nutritional genomics (i.e., nutrigenomics) is the field of research that is interested in all types of reciprocal interactions between nutrients and the genomes of organisms, i.e., variable patterns of gene expression and effect of genetic variations on the nutritional environment. Devising a revolutionary analytical approach to the traditional ruminant nutrition research, the relatively novel area of ruminant nutrigenomics has several studies concerning different aspects of animal production systems. This paper aims to review the current nutrigenomics research in the frame of how nutrition of ruminants can be modified accounting for individual genetic backgrounds and gene/diet relationships behind productivity, quality, efficiency, disease resistance, fertility, and greenhouse gas emissions. Furthermore, current challenges facing ruminant nutrigenomics are evaluated and future directions for the novel area are strongly argued by this review.