Potential of Anaerobic Rumen Fungi to Degrade Lignin Containing Tissues of Wheat Straw

Anaerobic fungal isolates i.e. BR3, BR4, BR6 and BR9 (from the rumen fluid) and BF11 (from the faecal samples) were isolated from buffalo. Orpinomyces sp and Anaeromyces sp were predominant in buffaloes maintained on wheat straw based fibrous feed stuffs. P-coumaroyl esterase and feruloyl esterase activities of different fungal isolates after 96 h of incubation on wheat straw based medium were studied. P-Coumaroyl esterase activities were higher by 19.2 (BR3) to 36.4 units (BR9) and feruloyl esterase activities by 114.7 units (BF10) to 136.8 units (BR9) than control (23.32 and 54.21). The order of p-coumaroyl esterase activity of above rumen fungal isolates was BR9>BR6>BR4>BF11>BR3 and that of feruloyl esterase activity was BR9>BR3>BR6>BF11>BR4. Isolate BR9 (Anaeromyces elegans) has higher (P<0.05) potential to degrade lignin containing tissues of wheat straw as compared to other isolates. Analysis of ITS region clearly differentiated between 2 polycentric genus Orpinomyces and Anaeromyces and this classification is supported by morphological observations. Thus, A. elegans (BR9) can be a promising direct fed microbial which can be incorporated in wheat straw based total mixed ration to improve the nutritive value of wheat straw, however, more studies are warranted.