Identification of Genus Clostridium Isolated from the Rumen of Malaysian Water Buffalo

Forty-three strains of Clostridium spp. were isolated from the rumen of Malaysian water buffalo fed on a diet containing palm kernel cake, and identified by morphological, biochemical, physiological tests and DNA-DNA hybridization method. Six species of Clostridium were identified, and the predominant strains were C. butyricum. In DNA-DNA similarity test, thirty-five of 43 strains showed more than 70% and eight strains showed less than 70% DNADNA similarity against respective reference strains.