alleryStart learning →Which organisms in the rumen secrete the cellulase that herbivores depend on?
AFungi and yeasts carried in on the plant matter
BInsects that are swallowed along with the fodder
CCells of the rumen wall, which make it themselves
DCertain species of bacteria and of protists
Answer & Solution
Correct answer: D. Certain species of bacteria and of protists
1. The rumen is part of the digestive system of herbivores.
2. Certain species of bacteria and protists live there and secrete the enzyme cellulase.
3. Cellulase breaks cellulose into glucose monomers the animal can use as an energy source.
4. The appendix of grazing animals also holds cellulose digesting bacteria, so the pattern is resident microbes rather than animal cells.
5. The host does not make the enzyme itself, which is why the option naming the rumen wall is wrong.
_Source: OpenStax Biology (1st ed., CC BY 4.0), Ch 3 "Biological Macromolecules", section 3.2 Carbohydrates_
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