著者
中村 文規 栗原 康
出版者
公益社団法人日本生物工学会
雑誌
醗酵工学会誌 : hakkokogaku kaishi (ISSN:03856151)
巻号頁・発行日
vol.56, no.6, pp.708-711, 1978

Two factors which may act in maintaining ciliate protozoal populations in the rumen were examined. The first factor is chemical substances which may be introduced into the rumen. The second is the heterogenous distribution of porous materials within the rumen, which may act to prevent protozoa from being directly swept out of the rumen. To investigate the former factor, components of saliva were collected through a parotid parotid fistula attached to a sheep. Gas chromatography suggested the presence of estrogenic substances. The latter factor was investigated using a fermentor (working volume; 2.3l) for continuous culture.The concentration of protozoa in an in vivo culture containing food residues taken from the remen was twice that in a control system containing no food residues. Another experiment was performed to investigate whether the physical properties of porous substances influence this result. Small pieces of sponge were dispersed in the culture. Concentrations of protozoa in liquids speezed out of pieces of sponge were twice those found in the free culture fluid.The results suggest that gwowth stimulatory substances may be present in the saliva of ruminants, and that the porous structure of food residues may help to maintain a high population of rumen ciliate protozoa.