Some Facultatively Anaerobic Gram-negative Rods from the Rumen of the Calf and the Sheep

Abstract

Summary: The coliform population in the rumens of twelve calves of ages 10–105 days was never greater than 106/g., and consisted mostly of Escherichia coli and intermediate types. Only one well-capsulated strain of Aerobacter aerogenes was isolated, whereas such capsulated strains could be isolated with ease from the rumen of a starch-fed sheep. An unidentified small catalase-negative Gram-negative rod, which readily produced ammonia from urea, was isolated from the rumen contents of two of the older calves, at a dilution of 10−4.