Article révisé par les pairs
Résumé : Population changes in cellulolytic microflora were studied during composting of cattle manure. Six bacterial and nine actinomycetes species were isolated. Among the isolates, two actinomycetes, Micromonospora chalcae and Pseudonocardia thermophila, were cellulolytic strains which were numerically dominant and might therefore play a notable role in the degradation of cellulose in cattle manure. Fungi were practically absent during the process, but two cellulose-degrading bacterial species, Sporocytophaga myxococcoides and Cytophaga hutchinsonii, appeared to coexist in equilibrium with actinomycetes during the maturation phase.