The Mechanism of Cellulose Digestion in the Ruminant Organism. III. The Action of Cellulose-Splitting Bacteria on the Fibre of Certain Typical Feeding Stuffs

Abstract

Quantitative methods for in vitro investigations into the action of thermophilic cellulose-splitting bacteria on the fibre of material ingested are described with the results of such determinations on a large number of such substances. Although not affording reliable information respecting the digestibility of the fibre in the animal, the methods yield useful data concerning the partition of the fibre into cellulose and lignocellulose. The method was used to study the process of lignification in plants during growth up to the seeding stage. It is concluded that the factor chiefly affecting digestibility of the fibre is not the amount of lignocellulose but the intimacy of its association with the cellulose of the cell walls.