Extent of Cellulose and Hemicellulose Digestion in Various Forages by Pure Cultures of Rumen Bacteria

Abstract

The ability of nine pure strains of rumen bacteria to digest the eelhflose and hemieellulose portions of an intact forage was investigated. Using a limiting' level of substrate, the extent of digestion of these components was measured in va13-ing maturity stages of both grasses and alfalfa. Bacteroides s~ccb~oge,~es strains were able to digest significantly greater amounts of cellulose from forages than were the other species. Two of the four strains of I~tmiuocoec~s fl~'e/'c~ci~,~ had a markedly reduced ability to digest eellulose from alfalfa. Of the seven eellulolytic strains, only three were able to digest forage hemicelluloses. These three strains, all rmninocoeci, digested considerable amounts of hemicellulose from ])romegrass, but had a very limited ability to digest alfalfa hemicellulose. Opposite resuits were obtained with B(wtero,:des r~-mi~deola.