ISOLATION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF METHANOBACTERIUM RUMINANTIUM N. SP

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Abstract
A culture method was developed for the isolation of rumen methanogenic bacteria. The agar medium was reduced by growth of Escherichia coli, which was killed prior to inoculation with dilutions of rumen contents. The substrate was H2 and CO2. A pure culture of a previously undescribed methanogenic bacterium was isolated and characterized. The organism is a non-motile, nonsporeforming, gram-positive, encapsulated rod with rounded ends, which can utilize hydrogen and formate as hydrogen donors. It is extremely sensitive to oxygen. The name Methanobacterium ruminantium is proposed. Culture counts demonstrate that this organism exists in rumen contents in numbers as great as 2 x 108 per ml, and that it is widely distributed geographically. It is concluded that M. ruminantium plays an important role in the production of methane in the rumen.

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