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. 1982 Aug;44(2):281–291. doi: 10.1128/aem.44.2.281-291.1982

Role of Aerobic Microbial Populations in Cellulose Digestion by Desert Millipedes

Elsa C Taylor 1
PMCID: PMC242008  PMID: 16346074

Abstract

I examined the role of aerobic microbial populations in cellulose digestion by two sympatric species of desert millipedes, Orthoporus ornatus and Comanchelus sp. High numbers of bacteria able to grow on media containing cellulose, carboxymethyl cellulose, or cellobiose as the substrate were found in the alimentary tracts of the millipedes. Enzyme assays indicated that most cellulose and hemicellulose degradation occurred in the midgut, whereas the hindgut was an important site for pectin degradation. Hemicellulase and β-glucosidase in both species and possibly Cx-cellulase and pectinase in O. ornatus were of possible microbial origin. Degradation of [14C]cellulose by millipedes whose gut floras were reduced by antibiotic treatment and starvation demonstrated a reduction in 14CO2 release and 14C assimilation and an increase in 14C excretion over values for controls. It appears that the millipede-bacterium association is mutualistic and makes available to millipedes an otherwise mostly unutilizable substrate. Such an association may be an important pathway for decomposition in desert ecosystems.

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Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

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