Preparation and Some Basic Properties of Cell-Free Cellulolytic Extracts of Rumen Fluid

Abstract

A technique was developed by which a cell-free cellulo-lyticly active extract was obtained from rumen fluid and subsequent studies were conducted to determine some of the properties of the extract. The procedure consisted of agitating rumen fluid in a Waring blender followed by high speed centrifugation to remove the feed particles and bacteria. The extract was active on carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC-70-L, a soluble cellulose) and exhibited some activity on Whatman cellulose powder (an insoluble cellulose). Rumen fluid adjusted to a pH of 6.0 yielded the strongest extracts. The optimum pH for the activity of the extracts was 5.5-6.0. No inhibition was observed when small amounts of either glucose or glucose and cellobiose were added to the reaction flasks; however, paper chromatograms revealed that a sugar corresponding to cellobiose was produced in flasks to which only glucose had been added.