SUMMARY
The objectives of this study were to determine whether growing Pleurotus ostreatus and Erwinia carotovora on wheat straw would synergistically improve the digestibility of straw and whether there was a necessity of sterilizing the straw by autoclaving prior to inoculation. Dry matter decomposition of autoclaved and non-autoclaved straw was similar when both organisms were used in the system after 28 da incubation. However, in vitro ruminal dry matter digestibility of straw was significantly improved (P <.10) only when the straw was autoclaved prior to inoculation with both organisms.