Little methane in the digestion of wallabies

2011/09/01 Elhuyar Zientzia Iturria: Elhuyar aldizkaria

• Biokimika
• Zoologia
• Mikrobiologia
• Ingurumena

The Tammar, small kangaroos, do not emit almost methane through the digestive tract, although they eat grass and leaves. The biologists of the Australian organization SCIRO (called Wallaby Group-1, WG-1) have concluded that the cause is the influence of a group of newly discovered kangaroo intestinal bacteria. In the digestion of plants, instead of producing methane, the bacteria produce succinate. Under normal conditions, this molecule is in solid state, so it cannot cause any greenhouse effect as the kangaroo does not emit into the atmosphere.