Cellulose fermentation by a rumen anaerobic fungus in both the absence and the presence of rumen methanogens.

The fermentation of cellulose by an ovine rumen anaerobic fungus in the absence and presence of rumen methanogens is described. In the monoculture, moles of product as a percentage of the moles of hexose fermented were: acetate, 72.7; carbon dioxide, 37.6; formate, 83.1; ethanol, 37.4; lactate, 67.0; and hydrogen, 35.3. In the coculture, acetate was the major product (134.7%), and carbon dioxide increased (88.7%). Lactate and ethanol production decreased to 2.9 and 19%, respectively, little formate was detected (1%), and hydrogen did not accumulate. Substantial amounts of methane were produced in the coculture (58.7%). Studies with [2-C]acetate indicated that acetate was not a precursor of methane. The demonstration of cellulose fermentation by a fungus extends the range of known rumen organisms capable of participating in cellulose digestion and provides further support for a role of anaerobic fungi in rumen fiber digestion. The effect of the methanogens on the pattern of fermentation is interpreted as a shift in flow of electrons away from electron sink products to methane via hydrogen. The study provides a new example of intermicrobial hydrogen transfer and the first demonstration of hydrogen formation by a fungus.