Response surface analysis of the effects of pH and dilution rate on Ruminococcus flavefaciens FD-1 in cellulose-fed continuous culture (original) (raw)

Initial pH as a determinant of cellulose digestion rate by mixed ruminal microorganisms in vitro

Journal of dairy science, 2001

In vitro fermentations of pure cellulose by mixed ruminal microorganisms were conducted under conditions in which pH declined within ranges similar to those observed in the rumen. At low cellulose concentrations (12.5 g/L), the first-order rate constants (k) of cellulose disappearance were successively lower at initial pH values of 6.86, 6.56, and 6.02, but in each case the value of k was maintained over a pH range of 0.3 to 1.2 units, as the fermentation progressed. Plots of k versus initial pH were linear, and k displayed a relative decrease of approximately 7% per 0.1 unit decrease in pH. At high cellulose concentration (50 g/L) and an initial pH of 6.8, cellulose digestion was initially zero order, the absolute rate of digestion declined with pH and digestion essentially ceased at pH 5.3 after only 30% of the added cellulose was digested. Further incubation resulted in a loss of bound N and P, suggesting that at low pH cells lysed or detached from the undigested fibers. Pure cul...

Quantitative analysis of cellulose degradation and growth of cellulolytic bacteria in the rumen

FEMS Microbiology Ecology, 2000

Ruminant animals digest cellulose via a symbiotic relationship with ruminal microorganisms. Because feedstuffs only remain in the rumen for a short time, the rate of cellulose digestion must be very rapid. This speed is facilitated by rumination, a process that returns food to the mouth to be rechewed. By decreasing particle size, the cellulose surface area can be increased by up to 10 6fold. The amount of cellulose digested is then a function of two competing rates, namely the digestion rate (K d) and the rate of passage of solids from the rumen (K p). Estimation of bacterial growth on cellulose is complicated by several factors: (1) energy must be expended for maintenance and growth of the cells, (2) only adherent cells are capable of degrading cellulose and (3) adherent cells can provide nonadherent cells with cellodextrins. Additionally, when ruminants are fed large amounts of cereal grain along with fiber, ruminal pH can decrease to a point where cellulolytic bacteria no longer grow. A dynamic model based on STELLA s software is presented. This model evaluates all of the major aspects of ruminal cellulose degradation: (1) ingestion, digestion and passage of feed particles, (2) maintenance and growth of cellulolytic bacteria and (3) pH effects.

3-Phenylpropanoic Acid Improves the Affinity of Ruminococcus albus for Cellulose in Continuous Culture

Applied and environmental microbiology, 1990

A continuous-culture device, adapted for use with solid substrates, was used to evaluate the effects of 3-phenylpropanoic acid (PPA) upon the ability of the South African strain Ruminococcus albus Ce63 to ferment cellulose. Steady states of fermentation were established with a dilution rate of 0.17 h, and the extent and volumetric rates of cellulose fermentation were determined over four consecutive days. When the growth medium contained no additions (control), 25 muM phenylacetate alone, 25 muM PPA alone, or 25 muM each of phenylacetate and PPA, the extent of cellulose hydrolysis was determined to be 41.1, 35.7, 90.2, and 86.9%, respectively, and the volumetric rate of cellulose hydrolysis was 103.0, 97.9, 215.5, and 230.4 mg liter h, respectively. To evaluate the effect of PPA availability on affinity for cellulose, the values for dilution rate and extent of cellulose hydrolysis were used in combination with values for maximum specific growth rate determined from previous studies ...

Differential fermentation of cellulose allomorphs by ruminal cellulolytic bacteria

Applied and environmental microbiology, 1991

In addition to its usual native crystalline form (cellulose I), cellulose can exist in a variety of alternative crystalline forms (allomorphs) which differ in their unit cell dimensions, chain packing schemes, and hydrogen bonding relationships. We prepared, by various chemical treatments, four different alternative allomorphs, along with an amorphous (noncrystalline) cellulose which retained its original molecular weight. We then examined the kinetics of degradation of these materials by two species of ruminal bacteria and by inocula from two bovine rumens. Ruminococcus flavefaciens FD-1 and Fibrobacter succinogenes S85 were similar to one another in their relative rates of digestion of the different celluloses, which proceeded in the following order: amorphous > III(I) > IV(I) > III(II) > I > II. Unlike F. succinogenes, R. flavefaciens did not degrade cellulose II, even after an incubation of 3 weeks. Comparisons of the structural features of these allomorphs with t...

Competition for cellulose among three predominant ruminal cellulolytic bacteria under substrate-excess and substrate-limited conditions

Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 1997

Three predominant ruminal cellulolytic bacteria (Fibrobacter succinogenes S85, Ruminococcus flavefaciens FD-1, and Ruminococcus albus 7) were grown in different binary combinations to determine the outcome of competition in either cellulose-excess batch culture or in cellulose-limited continuous culture. Relative populations of each species were estimated by using signature membrane-associated fatty acids and/or 16S rRNA-targeted oligonucleotide probes. Both F. succinogenes and R. flavefaciens coexisted in cellulose-excess batch culture with similar population sizes (58 and 42%, respectively; standard error, 12%). By contrast, under cellulose limitation R. flavefaciens predominated (> 96% of total cell mass) in coculture with F. succinogenes, regardless of whether the two strains were inoculated simultaneously or whether R. flavefaciens was inoculated into an established culture of F. succinogenes. The predominance of R. flavefaciens over F. succinogenes under cellulose limitatio...

Inhibitory effects of methylcellulose on cellulose degradation by Ruminococcus flavefaciens

Highly methylated, long-chain celluloses strongly inhibited cellulose degradation by several species of cellulolytic bacteria of ruminal origin. Specifically, the inhibitory effects of methylcellulose on the growth of Ruminococcus flavefaciens FD1 were concentration dependent, with complete inhibition at 0.1% (wt/vol). However, methylcellulose did not inhibit growth on cellobiose or cellulooligosaccharides. Mixtures of methylated cellulooligosaccharides having an average degree of polymerization of 6.7 to 9.5 inhibited cellulose degradation, but those with an average degree of polymerization of 1.0 to 4.5 did not. Similar inhibitory effects by methylcellulose and, to a lesser extent, by methyl cellulooligosaccharides were observed on cellulase activity, as measured by hydrolysis of p-nitrophenyl-p-D-cellobioside. R. flavefaciens cultures hydrolyzed cellulooligosaccharides to cellobiose and cellotriose as final end products. Cellopentaose and cellohexaose were cleaved to these end products, but cellotetraose was also formed from cellohexaose. Methylcellulose did not inhibit hydrolysis of cellulooligosaccharides. These data are consistent with the presence of separate cellulase

Effect of cellulose fine structure on kinetics of its digestion by mixed ruminal microorganisms in vitro

Applied and environmental microbiology, 1990

The digestion kinetics of a variety of pure celluloses were examined by using an in vitro assay employing mixed ruminal microflora and a modified detergent extraction procedure to recover residual cellulose. Digestion of all of the celluloses was described by a discontinuous first-order rate equation to yield digestion rate constants and discrete lag times. These kinetic parameters were compared with the relative crystallinity indices and estimated accessible surface areas of the celluloses. For type I celluloses having similar crystallinities and simple nonaggregating particle morphologies, the fermentation rate constants displayed a strong positive correlation (r2 = 0.978) with gross specific surface area; lag time exhibited a weaker, negative correlation (r2 = 0.930) with gross specific surface area. Crystallinity was shown to have a relatively minor effect on the digestion rate and lag time. Swelling of microcrystalline cellulose with 72 to 77% phosphoric acid yielded substrates...

Degradation of Cellulose and Hemicellulose by Ruminal Microorganisms

Microorganisms

As major structural components of plant cell walls, cellulose and hemicellulose are degraded and fermented by anaerobic microbes in the rumen to produce volatile fatty acids, the main nutrient source for the host. Cellulose degradation is carried out primarily by specialist bacteria, with additional contributions from protists and fungi, via a variety of mechanisms. Hemicelluloses are hydrolyzed by cellulolytic bacteria and by generalist, non-cellulolytic microbes, largely via extracellular enzymes. Cellulose hydrolysis follows first-order kinetics and its rate is limited by available substrate surface area. Nevertheless, its rate is at least an order of magnitude more rapid than in anaerobic digesters, due to near-obligatory adherence of microbial cells to the cellulose surface, and a lack of downstream inhibitory effects; in the host animal, fiber degradation rate is also enhanced by the unique process of rumination. Cellulolytic and hemicellulolytic microbes exhibit intense compe...

Relationship Between Cellulolytic Activity and Adhesion to Cellulose in Ruminococcus Albus

Microbiology, 1987

Bacterial adhesion to cellulose was measured for 13 cellulolytic and 10 non-cellulolytic, xylanutilizing strains of the ruminal bacterium Rurninococcus albus. Radiolabelled bacteria adhering to Whatman CFI 1 cellulose powder were determined. Adhesion of the cellulolytic strains ranged from 0 to 49% of the added bacteria. Of the non-cellulolytic strains, 9 showed < 1 % adhesion, while one strain gave 5 % adhesion. For the cellulolytic strains filter paper solubilization ranged from 24 to IOOO,',, while solubilization of CFI 1 cellulose varied from 0 to 20%. Both cellulolytic and non-cellulolytic strains produced carboxymethylcellulase (CMCase) activity. SDS-PAGE of cell extracts followed by incubation with a gel overlay containing CMC or xylan produced a zyinogram of hydrolytic enzyme activity. The cellulolytic strains showed a number of bands of CMCase and xylanase activity. Non-cellulolytic strains possessed fewer bands of activity towards both CMC and xylan. Certain of the enzymes appeared to possess both CMCase and xylanase activity. Bacterial cell surface hydrophobicity was also measured, but no correlation was found between hydrophobicity and adhesion to cellulose.