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Fungal pretreatment of wheat straw: Effects on the biodegradability of cell walls, structural polysaccharides, lignin and phenolic acids by rumen microorganisms

✍ Scribed by Eduardo Agosin; Marie Therese Tollier; Jean Marc Brillouet; Pierre Thivend; Etienne Odier


Publisher
John Wiley and Sons
Year
1986
Tongue
English
Weight
707 KB
Volume
37
Category
Article
ISSN
0022-5142

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✦ Synopsis


Disappearance of cell wall components of untreated straw and straw treated with the ligninolytic white-rot fungi Phanerochaete chrysosporium, Dichomitus squalens and Cyathus stercoreics were determined during the course of rumen digestion of samples in nylon bags. The first fungus degraded hemicelluloses and cellulose non-selectively, adversely affecting the digestion rate of crude cell walls. Dichomitus squalens and C. stercoreus preferentially degraded hemicelluloses and lignin, affording cell wall degradation rates 1.5 times higher than in native straw. Furthermore, the extent of cell wall digestion was also significantly enhanced. Both strains improved the extent of cellulose digestion, whereas the potentially degradable xylan fraction remained unchanged. Polysaccharide digestion rates were influenced in different ways depending on the strain tested: straw degraded by C. stercoreus showed an increase in cellulose digestion rate by 50%, whereas residual arabinose units were slowly degraded. Xylan was degraded 1.8 times faster in straw decayed by D. squalens, while cellulose digestion remained unchanged. Phanerochaete chrysosporium depressed both xylan and cellulose digestion rates.

Fungal-treated lignins were solubilised in the rumen faster than in untreated straw, whereas only treatment by C. stercoreus resulted in higher lignin losses. Esterified phenolic acids were extensively degraded by all three fungi. Residual ferulic and p-coumaric acids accumulated during rumen digestion, although only the former decreased in the original straw.