Some Nutritional Requirements of Bovine Rumen Bacteria

Abstract

The nutritional requirements of bovine rumen bacteria have been studied with emphasis upon the role of rumen fluid as an essential factor in the growth of these organisms. No materials have been found which possess the same stimulatory effect for the over-all rumen population as does rumen fluid. The essential factors in rumen fluid are not found to any degree in the rich nitrogenous materials ordinarily used for the growth of nutritionally fastidious bacteria. In fact, many of these substances are inhibitory. Certain complex nitrogenous sources stimulate the growth of a very few types of rumen bacteria, but seem to do so, unfortunately, at the expense of the remainder of the rumen population. Weakly active materials have been extracted from rumen fluid by adsorption-elution methods, but these substances are also selective. Rumen fluid is considered to be both a source of nitrogen and growth factors when used in media for cultivating rumen bacteria. © 1954, American Dairy Science Association. All rights reserved.