On the Induction of Zoosporogenesis in the Rumen Phycomycetes Neocallimastix frontalis, Piromonas communis and Sphaeromonas communis

The plant components inducing zoosporogenesis in the rumen phycomycetes Neocallimastix frontalis, Sphaeromonas communis and Piromonas communis were widely distributed in the plant kingdom with no apparent taxonomic relationship. In Lolium perenne L. (perennial rye-grass) and Hordeum distichon (barley), the components were principally present in the leaves and aerial tissues. Sufficient inducer was present in the normal diet of the host animal to trigger the differentiation and release of the zoospores from all the sporangia of each phycomycete species present in the rumen fluid tested. The inducers were unstable to oxygen, especially at elevated temperatures, and were destroyed by rumen micro-organisms. They may be similar compounds for each species.