Hindgut fermentation

Hindgut fermentation is a digestive process seen in monogastric herbivores (animals with a simple, single-chambered stomach). Cellulose is digested with the aid of symbiotic microbes including bacteria, archaea, and eukaryotes.[1] The microbial fermentation occurs in the digestive organs that follow the small intestine: the cecum and large intestine. Examples of hindgut fermenters include proboscideans and large odd-toed ungulates such as horses and rhinos, as well as small animals such as rodents, rabbits and koalas.[2]

In contrast, foregut fermentation is the form of cellulose digestion seen in ruminants such as cattle which have a four-chambered stomach,[3] as well as in sloths, macropodids, some monkeys, and one bird, the hoatzin.[4]

  1. ^ Liu, Ning; et, al (2022). "Oxidative cleavage of cellulose in the horse gut". Microbial Cell Factories. 21 (1): 38. doi:10.1186/s12934-022-01767-8. PMC 8917663. PMID 35279161.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference Grant was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Hindgut versus Foregut Fermenters. Vcebiology.edublogs.org (2011-04-30). Retrieved on 2011-11-27.
  4. ^ Grajal, A.; Strahl, S. D.; Parra, R.; Dominguez, M. G.; Neher, A. (1989). "Foregut fermentation in the Hoatzin, a Neotropical leaf-eating bird". Science. 245 (4923): 1236–1238. Bibcode:1989Sci...245.1236G. doi:10.1126/science.245.4923.1236. PMID 17747887. S2CID 21455374..