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Actinomycetes and bacteria, but not fungi, increase rapidly in numbers during the passage of food through the worm gut. Enzymes produced by the worm rather than micro-organisms seem to be the main agents digesting cellulose and chitin. The rate that material moves through the intestine depends on whether the animal is feeding; food takes about 20 hr. to pass, but when burrows are being formed material passes in about 12 hr.
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