title: Isolation of natural cultures of anaerobic fungi and indigenously associated methanogens from herbivores and their bioconversion of lignocellulosic materials to methane.
abstract: This study aimed to obtain natural cultures of anaerobic fungi and their indigenously associated methanogens from herbivores and investigate their ability to degrade lignocelluloses to methane. Eight natural cultures were obtained by Hungate roll tube technique. The fungi were identified as belonging to Piromyces, Anaeromyces and Neocallimastix respectively by microscopy, and the methanogens as Methanobrevibacter spp. by 16S rRNA gene sequencing. In vitro studies with rice straw showed that these cultures degraded 33.5-48.3% substrate and produced 0.33-0.84 mmol/(100ml culture) methane. Two cultures were further selected for their ability to degrade different lignocellulosic materials and could produce 0.38-1.27 mmol/(100ml culture) methane. When methanogens were inhibited, the lignocellulose-degrading ability of cultures significantly reduced. In conclusion, natural cultures of anaerobic fungi with indigenously associated methanogens with high fiber degradation ability were obtained, and these cultures may have the potential in industrial use in lignocelluloses degradation and methane production.
authors: Laboratory of Gastrointestinal Microbiology, College of Animal Science and Technology, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210095, China.
authors: Wei
authors: W
authors: Jin
authors: Yan-Fen
authors: YF
authors: Cheng
authors: Sheng-Yong
authors: SY
authors: Mao
authors: Wei-Yun
authors: WY
authors: Zhu
mesh_terms: D000693:Anaerobiosis; D000818:Animals; D019605:Euryarchaeota / Q000378:metabolism*; D005285:Fermentation; D005658:Fungi / Q000378:metabolism*; D060434:Herbivory; D008031:Lignin / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: C036909:lignocellulose; D008031:Lignin