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However, their ability to extract energy from cellulose digestion is less efficient than in ruminants. [2] Herbivores digest cellulose by microbial fermentation. Monogastric herbivores which can digest cellulose nearly as well as ruminants are called hindgut fermenters, while ruminants are called foregut fermenters. [3]
Some animals, particularly ruminants and termites, can digest cellulose with the help of symbiotic micro-organisms that live in their guts, such as Trichonympha. In human nutrition, cellulose is a non-digestible constituent of insoluble dietary fiber, acting as a hydrophilic bulking agent for feces and potentially aiding in defecation.
Ribbon representation of the Streptomyces lividans β-1,4-endoglucanase catalytic domain - an example from the family 12 glycoside hydrolases [1]. Cellulase (EC 3.2.1.4; systematic name 4-β-D-glucan 4-glucanohydrolase) is any of several enzymes produced chiefly by fungi, bacteria, and protozoans that catalyze cellulolysis, the decomposition of cellulose and of some related polysaccharides:
Its carnivore-adapted digestive system cannot digest cellulose well, thus it lives a low-energy, sedentary lifestyle but persists in eating some 60 species of bamboo. Pandas must eat upwards of 30 ...
Humans lack the cellulases to digest the carbohydrate cellulose which is a beta-linked glucose polymer. Some of the preceding endogenous enzymes have pharmaceutical counterparts (pancreatic enzymes) that are administered to people with exocrine pancreatic insufficiency.
She says humans lack the enzymes to break cellulose down, so it passes through the digestive system without being absorbed. Cellulose also counts as dietary fiber, though Messer says the amount ...
Cellulose is a polymer made with repeated glucose units bonded together by beta-linkages. Humans and many animals lack an enzyme to break the beta-linkages, so they do not digest cellulose. Certain animals, such as termites can digest cellulose, because bacteria possessing the enzyme are present in their gut. Cellulose is insoluble in water.
Most animals, however, do not produce cellulase; the enzyme needed to digest cellulose. However, some animals and species have developed symbiotic relationships with cellulase-producing bacteria (see termites and metamonads.) This allows termites to use the energy-dense cellulose carbohydrate. [1]