Physiological studies of the rumen protozoan Ophryoscolex caudatus Eberlein.

The rumen ciliate Ophryoscolex caudatus fermented starch with the production of acetic, butyric, and lactic acids plus CO(2) and H(2). Cellulose was not significantly metabolized although pectin was rapidly attacked in the Warburg apparatus. The protein sources, cottonseed, soybean, and linseed oil meals, and the amino acids, dl-alanine, dl-valine, and dl-leucine, were utilized by the protozoan, whereas ammonia was demonstrated as an end product of nitrogenous metabolism. Methods for the separation of O. caudatus from mixed rumen contents are described.