Isolation and characteristics of a wheatbran-degrading Butyrivibrio from human faeces.

Screening over 100 isolates from human faeces for cellulolytic activity led to the isolation of a weakly cellulolytic anaerobic, curved, motile bacterium which produced H2, lactate and butyrate from wheatbran. The mol% of G + C in the DNA was 39-42. These properties, together with the Gram-positive cell wall ultrastructure and SDS-PAGE profile, are consistent with the genus Butyrivibrio. The isolate is believed to be the most active wheatbran-degrading bacterium so far described.