00:01
Let's talk about intestinal microorganisms and their role in digestion.
00:06
So animals lack enzymes necessary to digest cellulose, which is found in a lot of plant material.
00:13
But some animals have intestinal microorganisms that can convert that cellulose into a usable substance for the host.
00:20
It's a symbiotic or mutually beneficial relationship.
00:24
So let's look at one digestion strategy.
00:28
Ruminants like cows eat a lot.
00:31
Of plant material, a lot of cellulose.
00:33
Let's draw a diagram.
00:35
There's the esophagus.
00:39
Here is the rumen with the reticulum at the bottom, which leads into the omassum, and the abomasum, which then leads into the small intestine, into the cecum, and the large intestine, eventually into the rectum.
01:06
So that process of digestion is going to first the cow is going to eat some grass and other plant materials, it will enter into the rumen.
01:16
Now, the rumen is basically like a fermentation chamber.
01:20
That is where all of that bacteria is...