Transformation of (sup14)C-Lignin-Labeled Cell Walls of Wheat by Syntrophococcus sucromutans, Eubacterium oxidoreducens, and Neocallimastix frontalis

Wheat cell walls, saponified or not, labeled with [U-(sup14)C]phenylalanine or [O-methyl-(sup14)C]sinapate were fermented by Neocallimastix frontalis or Syntrophococcus sucromutans plus Eubacterium oxidoreducens or a mixed culture. Phenolics were less solubilized but more transformed by bacteria than by the fungus, and mineralization was slight. S. sucromutans O-demethylated [O-methyl-(sup14)C]syringyl lignins, yielding labeled acetate.