title: Nutritional interdependence among rumen bacteria during cellulose digestion in vitro.
abstract: A study has been made of the promoting effect of starch on cellulose digestion by mixed rumen bacteria in a cellulose-urea medium. Starch supplementation of the medium promoted the growth of bacteria that required neither amino acids (AA) nor branched-chain fatty acids (BrFA). The growth of these bacteria was followed by the growth of AA-dependent bacteria, AA- or BrFA-dependent bacteria, BrFA-producing bacteria, and finally, BrFA-dependent cellulolytic bacteria. Population changes of these bacterial groups corresponded with a cross-feeding of AA and BrFA and the overall disappearance of cellulose. The data suggest that the nutritional interdependence among rumen bacteria affects the rate of cellulose digestion.
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal Science, Faculty of Agriculture, Tohoku University, Sendai, 980, Japan.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Miura
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Horiguchi
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ogimoto
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Matsumoto