Periplaneta americana Hindgut of the American Cockroach, Composition on Cellulolytic Activity in the Effect of Host Diet and Hindgut Microbial

summary ofthe culture conditions is givenin Table 1. Culture conditions. Theeffect ofhost diet was evaluated byfeeding five different diets. Culture A received cellulose(shredded white household tissue; cellulose content about99%),with NH4Cl(1.5 g* liter- ) added to the drinking water; culture B received fish flour (prepared from Rastineobolaargentea); culture Creceived maize flour; culture D receivedcellulose andfish flour in a ratio of3:1; andculture E received a mixture ofcellulose, fish flour, and maize flour in a ratio of 3:1:0.5. Thecompositionofthefeed was chosen to evaluate theeffects of different sources of carbon, i.e., starch or cellulose,and ofdifferent levels of nitrogen in the diet. In order to evaluate the effect ofhindgut microbial compo- sition, five additional cultures (cultures F to J) were startedfrom cultures E and C, which served as stock cultures. Thehindgut microbial composition ofinsects in these cultures was altered in various ways. Culture Fcontainedcockroachesfromculture Ewhich