Fig. 4

Utilization of fructans purified from immature cereal crops by rumen-derived Bifidobacterium and Lactobacillus species. Growth profiles of (A) B. boum, (B) B. merycicum, and (C) L. vitulinus grown on 0.5% fructans isolated from the kernel and stem sections of winter wheat, spring wheat, and barley samples (7 DAA) in cfTPY/ cfMRS, alongside growth in rich media (TPY or MRS). Epifluorescence visualization of 0.2% fluorescently labelled barley kernel fructans (FLA-BK) and 0.2% fluorescently labelled barley stem fructans (FLA-BS) interactions in pure cultures of (D) B. boum, (E) B. merycicum, and (F) L. vitulinus after a 1 h incubation. Cells co-stained with DAPI, and visualized with the DAPI and fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC) channels