@article{mbs:/content/journal/micro/10.1099/00221287-31-1-1, author = "Parle, J. N.", title = "Micro-Organisms in the Intestines of Earthworms", journal= "Microbiology", year = "1963", volume = "31", number = "1", pages = "1-11", doi = "https://doi.org/10.1099/00221287-31-1-1", url = "https://www.microbiologyresearch.org/content/journal/micro/10.1099/00221287-31-1-1", publisher = "Microbiology Society", issn = "1465-2080", type = "Journal Article", abstract = "SUMMARY Actinomycetes and bacteria, but not fungi, increase rapidly in numbers during the passage of food through the worm gut. Enzymes produced by the worm rather than micro-organisms seem to be the main agents digesting cellulose and chitin. The rate that material moves through the intestine depends on whether the animal is feeding; food takes about 20 hr. to pass, but when burrows are being formed material passes in about 12 hr.", }