Biology - chapter 6 ( ruminant and rodent ) form 4..

BIOLOGY

DIGESTION OF CELLULOSE IN RUMINANT AND

RODENT

GROUP MEMBER

NURUL IZZAH

AMANJOT KAUR

NURINA ADLINA

Ruminant animals use a special four-chambered stomach with a unique microbial

flora to digest tough cellulose found in the plants in their diets. Most vertebrates cannot make cellulase, the enzyme that breaks down cellulose, but microbes in the rumen produce

it for them.

Ruminants chew and ingest plant matter and then swallow it. The plant matter is

separated into liquids and solids in the rumen, and liquids drain into the reticulum.

Solids in the rumen are then regurgitated into the mouth to be chewed and further

broken down.

Liquids pass from the reticulum into the omasum, where sugars, fatty acids, and other

nutrients are absorbed into the blood stream.

After the omasum, food passes into the abomasum, which is much like the stomach in non-ruminant (monogastric) animals, and from there moves into the small intestine,

where it is digested.

RUMINANT

ABOMASUM

• The fourth and final stomach compartment in ruminants. It secretes rennin - the artificial form of which is called rennet, and is used in cheese creation.

RUMEN

• The first chamber in the alimentary canal of ruminant animals. It serves as the primary site for microbial fermentation of ingested feed.

OMASUM

• The third compartment of the stomach in ruminants. Though its functions have not been well-studied, it appears to primarily aid in the absorption of water, magnesium, and the volatile fatty acids produced.

Ruminants are mammals that digest plant based food by processing it in a series of chambers in their stomachs. There are about 150 species of ruminants, including both domestic and wild species. Ruminating mammals include cattle, goats, sheep, giraffes, bison, moose, elk, yaks, water buffalo, deer, camels, alpacas, llamas, and antelope.

Ruminants differ from non-ruminants (called monogastrics) because they have a four-chambered stomach. The four compartments are called the rumen, the reticulum, the omasum, and the abomasum. The rumen and the reticulum are connected and work in concert and are therefore sometimes called the "reticulorumen" .

Flow of food in ruminant

mouth

oesophagus

rumen mouth

omasum

reticulum

abomasum

regurgitationfermentation

curdswallow

swallow- H2O

chyme

Digestive System of Rodents• Their caecum and appendix are

enlarged to store the cellulase producing bacteria

• Food pass the alimentary canal twice

- first as food - then as soft faeces

Soft and watery faeces usually produced at night

Eaten again

Pass out as hard and dry faeces during the day

Rat’s caecum

Flow of food in rodents

mouth

oesophagus

stomach caecum

anus

Small intestine

swallow

Re-eat the faeces to absorb more nutrient

Digest cellulose

Eaten again? Why??

THE END