CONTINUOUS CULTURE STUDIES ON FOUR SPECIES OF FIBROLYTIC RUMEN BACTERIA WITH PURE CELLULOSE AS SUBSTRATE
The specific growth rates of one strain each of Ruminoccoccus flavefaciens, R. albus, Bacteroides succinogenes and Clostridium polysaccharolyticum were measured at a constant pH value in a pH-auxostat continuous culture system, using ball-milled filter paper cellulose as limiting substrate. By manipulating the buffer capacity of the medium, the degree to which the substrate was utilized before fresh medium was dosed to the cultures was controlled. With all four species, the specific growth rates declines as the cultures were forced to utilize the more refractory (crystalline?) portion of the substrate, but the species differed in the steepness of this decline. (Graphs of specific growth rates versus degree of solubilization of cellulose will be presented.) These dissimilarities in behavior are probably a reflection of differences between the species in the complements of cellulases at their disposal. Key words: Continuous culture, cellulases, bacteria, cellulose