I accept that this should be published and presented but before I approve it I would a response to the following:  I wonder if the concept as identified could be used for screening to find low methane animals and as such if a position was to be taken that a screening mechanism was built on this approach whether the paper would be cited as prior art?  I fully realise this may not be the intention but is it feasible that we could screen livestock by microbial popn and use it for breeding purposes? 