Fermentation Capacity of Fecal Microbial Inocula of Przewalski Horse, Kulan, and Chapman Zebra and Polysaccharide Hydrolytic Activities of Fecal Microbial Constituents (Ciliates and Bacteria) of Kulan and Chapman Zebra

We examined fermentation capacity of fecal microbial inocula of Przewalski horse (Equus ferus przewalskii), Asian wild ass - kulan (Equus hemionus hemionus), and Chapman zebra (Equus quagga chapmani) in vitro. Interactions of the substrates (amorphous cellulose, wheat straw, meadow hay, xylan from oat spelt, and ground barley grain) and type of fecal inocula in the gas volume and in vitro dry matter digestibility were detected in all substrates after 72 hours of fermentation in five replicates for each substrate and type of inocula. No effects of fecal inocula sources were detected on total short-chain fatty acids concentrations. No live fecal ciliate population was present in kulan feces. Complex ciliate populations in zebra feces and the number and genera resembled ciliates from the colon of horses. Fresh feces of kulan and zebra were fractionated by galvanotaxis and centrifugation to separate fecal ciliates and bacteria. Specific activities (μmol of reducing equivalents/mL min mg protein) of carboxymethyl cellulase (CM-cellulase), xylanase, α-amylase, and inulinase were measured in crude cell-free extract of fecal ciliates (zebra), fecal bacteria (zebra and kulan), and total fecal preparation (zebra and kulan). All examined specific enzymatic activities were present in zebra fecal samples. We were unable to measure the inulinase activity and CM-cellulase activity in kulan fecal samples. Zebra ciliates are actively involved in the digestion of plant storage (α-amylase, 0.53 ± 0.02; inulinase, 1.77 ± 0.01, specific activities) and structural polysaccharides (CM-cellulase, 0.4 ± 0.15; xylanase, 0.26 ± 0.06). For the first time, we measured inulinase activity in intestinal ciliates.