Hostname: page-component-68945f75b7-zpsnj Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-08-06T05:27:19.071Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Biodegradability of mature grass cell walls in relation to chemical composition and rumen microbial activity

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 March 2009

C. W. Ford  and
R. Elliott
C. W. Ford
Affiliation:
GSIRO Division of Tropical Crops and Pastures, St Lucia, Queensland 4067, Australia
R. Elliott
Affiliation:
Department of Agriculture, University of Queensland, St Lucia, Queensland 4067, Australia
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

Cell walls from mature stems of three tropical grass species (Digitaria decumbens (pangola), Setaria anceps (cv. Kazangula) and sugar cane), and temperate barley straw, were analysed for lignin, carbohydrate, and the maj or acyl groups ferulate, ρ-coumarate and acetate. Samples were incubated in nylon bags in the rumen of sheep in a 4 x 4 latin-square design, and rates of disappearance of cellulose, hemicellulose, xylose, arabinose, ferulate, ρ-coumarate and acetate were determined during 60 h incubation. Interspecies differences in cell-wall chemistry appeared largely in the variable degree of acylation with p-coumaric acid (1·0–3·3%) and acetate (0·5–3·6%), and the high glucose concentration in the hemicellulose from pangola (17%) and Setaria (9%). Barley had much lower concentrations of these components than the tropical species. After 24 h incubation, losses of cellulose and acyl groups were greatest from pangola, whereas hemicellulose and its major components xylose and arabinose were degraded to the greatest degree from barley straw. Setaria cell-wall components were generally more resistant to degradation than the other species. No relationship was found between the concentration of any cell-wall constituent and degradability measurements. Nor were changes in microbial population, indicated by measuring the accumulation of cystine on the fibres, related to the rate or degree of degradation of any of the measured cell-wall constituents. Lignin was fractionated with alkali into insoluble and soluble fractions. The latter (25–50% of original lignin) gave high interspecies correlations with the degradability of total hemicellulose and its component monosaccharides. It was concluded that variability in the biodegradability of the cell walls was more likely due to in situ structural features, such as cross-linking between polymers, than to the concentration of any particular cell-wall constituent.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Journal of Agricultural Science , Volume 108 , Issue 1 , February 1987 , pp. 201 - 209
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1987

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Akhrem, A. A., Awakumov, G. V. & Strel'chyonok, O. A. (1979). Methylation analysis in glycoprotein chemistry: low-bleeding columns for the gas chromatographic analysis of methylated sugar derivatives. Journal of Chromatography 176, 207–216.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Akin, D. E., Gordon, G. L. R. & Hogan, J. P. (1983). Rumen bacterial and fungal degradation of Digitaria pentzii grown with or without sulfur. Applied and Environmental Microbiology 46, 738–748.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Blumenkrantz, N. & Asboe-Hansen, G. (1973). New method for quantitative determination of uronic acids. Analytical Biochemistry 54, 484–489.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bouveng, H. O. (1961). Phenylisocyanate derivatives of carbohydrates. II. Location of the O-acetyl groups in birch xylan. Acta Chemica Scandinavica 15, 96–100.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Burritt, E. A., Bittner, A. S., Street, J. C. & Anderson, M. J. (1984). Correlations of phenolic acids and xylose content of cell wall with in vitro dry matter digestibility of three maturing grasses. Journal of Dairy Science 67, 1209–1213.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dekker, R. F. H., Richards, G. N. & Playne, M. J. (1972). Digestion of polysaccharide constituents of tropical pasture herbage in the bovine rumen. Carbohydrate Research 22, 173–185.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dubois, M., Gilles, K. A., Hamilton, J. K., Rebers, P. A. & Smith, F. (1956). Colorimetrie method for the determination of sugars and related substances. Analytical Chemistry 28, 350–356.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Elliott, R. & Armstrong, D. G. (1982). The effect of urea plus sodium sulphate on microbial protein production in the rumens of sheep given diets high in alkali-treated barley straw. Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge 99, 51–60.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Elliott, R., Norton, B. W. & Ford, C. W. (1985). In vivo colonization of grass cell walls by rumen microorganisms. Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge 105, 279–283.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ford, C. W. (1974). Semimicro quantitative determination of carbohydrates in plant material by gasliquid chromatography. Analytical Biochemistry 57, 413–420.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ford, C. W. (1986). Comparative structural studies of lignin-carbohydrate complexes from Digitaria decumbens (pangola grass) before and after chlorite delignification. Carbohydrate Research 147, 101–117.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ford, C. W., Elliott, R. & Maynard, P. J. (1987). The effect of chlorite delignification on digestibility of some grass forages and on intake and rumen microbial activity in sheep fed barley straw. Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge 108, 129–136.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hartley, R. D. (1972). ρ-Coumaric and ferulic acid components of cell walls of ryegrass and their relationships with lignin and digestibility. Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture 23, 1347–1354.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hartley, R. D., Jones, E. C. & Fenlon, J. C. (1974). Prediction of the digestibility of forages by treatment of their cell walls with cellulolytic enzymes. Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture 25, 947–954.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hartley, R. D., Jones, E. C. & Wood, T. M. (1976). Carbohydrates and carbohydrate esters of ferulio acid released from cell walls of Lolium multiflorum by treatment with cellulolytic enzymes. Phytochemistry 15, 305–307.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jung, H. G. (1985). Inhibition of structural carbohydrate fermentation by forage phenolics. Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture 36, 74–80.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jung, H. G. & Fahey, G. C. Jr (1983). Nutritional implications of phenolic monomers and lignin: a review. Journal of Animal Science 57, 206–219.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
MoManus, W. R., Manta, L., McFarlane, J. D. & Gray, A. C. (1972). The effects of diet supplements and gamma irradiation on dissimilation of low-quality roughages by ruminants. I. Studies on the terylenebag technique and effects of supplementation of base ration. Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge 79, 27–40.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mansson, P. & Samuelsson, B. (1981). Quantitative determination of O-acetyl and other O-acetyl groups in cellulosic material. Svenak Papperstidning 84, R 15.Google Scholar
Morris, E. J. & Bacon, J. S. D. (1977). The fate of acetyl groups and sugar components during the digestion of grass cell walls in sheep. Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge 89, 327–340.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Morris, E. J. & van Gylswyk, N. O. (1980). Comparison of the action of rumen bacteria on cell walls from Eragrostis tef. Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge 95, 313–323.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Theander, O., Uden, P. & Aman, P. (1981). Acetyl and phenolic acid substituents in timothy of different maturity and after digestion with rumen microorganisms or a commercial cellulase. Agriculture and Environment 6, 127–133.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Van Soest, P. J. (1981). Limiting factors in plant residues of low biodegradability. Agricultural Environment 6, 136–143.Google Scholar