<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p> As the most abundant biomass in nature, cellulose is the main chemical component in herbivore forages. The energy locked in these complex polymers can only be released by cellulolytic enzymes. Therefore, research aiming to increase the expression of cellulolytic enzymes or browsing uncultured microbial ecosystem in search of potential fibrolytic enzymes is imperative. The main objectives were to: (a) investigate the variation of cellulase enzymes in cow (CW), horse (H), miniature horse (mH), wildebeest (WB) and zebra (ZB); and (b) identify their presence and activeness in microbial consortia, N1 (H+WB), N2 (H+ZB), N3 (WB+ZB) and N4 (H+WB+ZB). Fresh faecal or rumen inocula were cultured in the laboratory on maize stover and lucerne (1:1) with salivary buffer for 72 h at 38°C. Crude proteins (CPZ) were precipitated from both fresh and cultured inocula using 60% ammonium sulfate for enzyme assays and zymography. Endocellulases and their activity were identified on 1% (m/v) carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) zymograms stained with Congo red. All CPZ extracts were active as reducing sugars were produced after incubation with crystalline cellulose, CMC and xylan. The number and types of proteins with endocellulase activity varied (P&lt;0.05) among and within the different animal species CW (15), H (14), mH (14), WB (13) and ZB (13). Microbial consortia were active with relatively higher number of endocellulases, N1 (17), N3 (14), N4 (14), and N2 (13). Cellulase enzymes vary among and within herbivore species grazing on the same or different fields. Therefore, identifying specific enzymes and microbes with higher fibrolytic potentials from different ecosystems for transinoculation could play a vital role in improving forage digestibility in ruminants</p></abstract>

As the most abundant biomass in nature, cellulose is the main chemical component in herbivore forages. The energy locked in these complex polymers can only be released by cellulolytic enzymes. Therefore, research aiming to increase the expression of cellulolytic enzymes or browsing uncultured microbial ecosystem in search of potential fibrolytic enzymes is imperative. The main objectives were to: (a) investigate the variation of cellulase enzymes in cow (CW), horse (H), miniature horse (mH), wildebeest (WB) and zebra (ZB); and (b) identify their presence and activeness in microbial consortia, N1 (H+WB), N2 (H+ZB), N3 (WB+ZB) and N4 (H+WB+ZB). Fresh faecal or rumen inocula were cultured in the laboratory on maize stover and lucerne (1:1) with salivary buffer for 72 h at 38°C. Crude proteins (CPZ) were precipitated from both fresh and cultured inocula using 60% ammonium sulfate for enzyme assays and zymography. Endocellulases and their activity were identified on 1% (m/v) carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) zymograms stained with Congo red. All CPZ extracts were active as reducing sugars were produced after incubation with crystalline cellulose, CMC and xylan. The number and types of proteins with endocellulase activity varied (P<0.05) among and within the different animal species CW (15), H (14), mH (14), WB (13) and ZB (13). Microbial consortia were active with relatively higher number of endocellulases, N1 (17), N3 (14), N4 (14), and N2 (13). Cellulase enzymes vary among and within herbivore species grazing on the same or different fields. Therefore, identifying specific enzymes and microbes with higher fibrolytic potentials from different ecosystems for transinoculation could play a vital role in improving forage digestibility in ruminants

In Vitro Cellulase Production from Five Herbivore Microbial Ecosystems and Consortia

Department of Agriculture, University of Zululand, KwaDlangezwa, Empangeni, 3886, South Africa

Animal and Poultry Science, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg Campus, Durban Road, Pietermaritzburg, 3201, South Africa

Department of Animal Nutrition, Shampat Campus, University of Khartoum, P.O.Box 32, Postal Code 1334, Sudan

Annals of Animal Science

This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License, which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

As the most abundant biomass in nature, cellulose is the main chemical component in herbivore forages. The energy locked in these complex polymers can only be...

In Vitro Cellulase Production from Five Herbivore Microbial Ecosystems and Consortia

Publié en ligne: 25 avr. 2014

Pages: 329 - 340

Reçu: 06 juin 2013

Accepté: 08 oct. 2013

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/aoas-2014-0001

Mots clés
fibrolytic enzymes, rumen, faecal inoculum

© by Fabian Nde Fon

This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License, which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

In Vitro Cellulase Production from Five Herbivore Microbial Ecosystems and Consortia

Publié en ligne: 25 avr. 2014

Pages: 329 - 340

Reçu: 06 juin 2013

Accepté: 08 oct. 2013

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/aoas-2014-0001

Mots clésfibrolytic enzymes, rumen, faecal inoculum

© by Fabian Nde Fon

This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License, which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Mots clés
fibrolytic enzymes, rumen, faecal inoculum