Biology Digestion Question!?

Hello, i have a question about the stomach of cows lol.

basically they have bacteria in their rumen which breaks down the cellulose to useful products such as sugar for the cow to use for respiration, but what does the bacteria gain from this, they get some sort of product too? if so what is it?

Thanks for your time

From John Wood

Reply 1

corkskrew

Simple and complex carbohydrates (fibre) are digested by rumen microbes - after hydrolysis to glucose they are respired into volatile fatty acids. The volatile fatty acids, which consist mainly of acetic, propionic, and butyric acids, are the primary energy source for ruminants.
Remember there can be a lot of starch within the grass and plant cells - this is also available. VFAs are the main source of cow energy though.

Reply 2

They also get a nice, warm, safe place to live... it's worth bearing in mind :biggrin:

Reply 3

No Future

- Nutrients
- Optimal environment for growth

Reply 4

Neo1

Aha i get it! lol Corkskrew reply was a bit too complex at least for GCSE level lol

Reply 5

Naughty

its known as being "mutualistic" as the bacteria survive due to the cow, and the cows survive thanks to the bacteria breaking down the cellulose for its energy