Special Rumen Microbiology

Bacteria make up about half of the living organisms inside of the rumen. However, they do more than half of the work in the rumen. The bacteria work together. Some breakdown certain carbohydrates and proteins which are then used by others. Some require certain growth factors, such as B-vitamins, which are made by others. Some bacteria help to clean up the rumen of others’ end products, such as hydrogen ions, which could otherwise accumulate and become toxic to other organisms. This is called “cross-feeding”. Rumen microbiological studies based on laboratory culture have contributed greatly to our understanding of how feeds are transformed into the VFA and microbial cells that provide nutrients to the cow. Over the last 20 years, the limitations of culture-based microbiological studies of almost all microbial habitats become apparent