Use of a cellulolytic enzyme digestion technique to distinguish bloat-causing from non-bloat-causing legumes and to select for speed of mesophyll cell-wall disintegration in red clover (Trifolium pratense L.)

Abstract

SUMMARY: Cell walls of three bloat-causing legumes, lucerne, red clover and white clover tended to be thinner and disintegrated significantly (P < 0·05) faster during cellulase digestion than those of two non-bloat-causing legumes, sainfoin (reported to contain tannins) and cicer milkvetch (reported not to contain tannins). Response to one generation of selection for speed of mesophyll cell-wall disintegration was marked in a diploid red clover (h² = 0·66, 1·13) but slight in a tetraploid (h² = 0·10, 0·13).