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Abstract
SUMMARY: Large, Gram-negative, anaerobic cocci (LC) fermenting lactate were first isolated by enrichment culture from the sheep rumen (Elsden, Volcani, Gilchrist & Lewis, 1956). High counts (about 109/ml.) were obtained from young calves but not from adult ruminants by Hobson, Mann & Oxford (1958). The cocci were cultured in numbers of 106 to 103/ml. from the rumen of cattle fed high-grain rations and named Peptostreptococcus elsdenii by Gutierrez, Davis, Lindahl & Warwick (1959). They can be important fermenters of lactate in the rumen and are associated with amylolytic lactate producers such as Streptococcus bovis when large amounts of starch are consumed by ruminants. The production of propionic acid by P. elsdenii via the acrylate pathway (Ladd, 1959) has attracted the particular interest of biochemists and nutritionists. The types of bacteria active in the rumen are not found only in this organ (Giesecke, 1970), and recent experiments indicate that P. elsdenii is also a prominent lactate fermenter in the large intestine of pigs fed on diets containing potatoes.
- Accepted:
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