The Historical Development of Cultivation Techniques for Methanogens and Other Strict Anaerobes and Their Application in Modern Microbiology.

Simon K. -M. R. Rittmann,Nikola Hanišáková,Monika Vítězová

doi:10.3390/microorganisms10020412

Simon K. -M. R. Rittmann, Nikola Hanišáková + Show 1 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms10020412

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Journal: Microorganisms	Publication Date: Feb 10, 2022
Citations: 8	License type: CC BY 4.0

Affiliation: University of Vienna, Masaryk University

Abstract

The cultivation and investigation of strictly anaerobic microorganisms belong to the fields of anaerobic microbial physiology, microbiology, and biotechnology. Anaerobic cultivation methods differ from classic microbiological techniques in several aspects. The requirement for special instruments, which are designed to prevent the contact of the specimen with air/molecular oxygen by different means of manipulation, makes this field more challenging for general research compared to working with aerobic microorganisms. Anaerobic microbiological methods are required for many purposes, such as for the isolation and characterization of new species and their physiological examination, as well as for anaerobic biotechnological applications or medical indications. This review presents the historical development of methods for the cultivation of strictly anaerobic microorganisms focusing on methanogenic archaea, anaerobic cultivation methods that are still widely used today, novel methods for anaerobic cultivation, and almost forgotten, but still relevant, techniques.

Highlights

The cultivation and investigation of strictly anaerobic microorganisms belong to the fields of anaerobic microbial physiology, microbiology, and biotechnology
The main reason for the difference is that while manipulating strictly anaerobic microorganisms, it is necessary to prevent molecular oxygen (O2 ) exposure to the organisms. This is due to the fact that O2 is toxic to anaerobic microorganisms, to varying degrees and depending on the microbe [1], and on their oxidation-reduction potential (ORP), the optimal value of which differs among anaerobic species
For the most common anaerobic and aerotolerant microorganisms, cultivation techniques are often manageable under ordinary laboratory conditions, but more sophisticated cultivation methods are required for the study of strictly anaerobic microorganisms, such as methanogens, whose importance and biotechnological applications are of utmost interest [6,7,8,9]

Summary

Introduction

The cultivation and investigation of strictly anaerobic microorganisms belong to the fields of anaerobic microbial physiology, microbiology, and biotechnology. The main reason for the difference is that while manipulating strictly anaerobic microorganisms, it is necessary to prevent molecular oxygen (O2 ) exposure to the organisms. This is due to the fact that O2 is toxic to anaerobic microorganisms, to varying degrees and depending on the microbe [1], and on their oxidation-reduction potential (ORP), the optimal value of which differs among anaerobic species. For the most common anaerobic and aerotolerant microorganisms, cultivation techniques are often manageable under ordinary laboratory conditions, but more sophisticated cultivation methods are required for the study of strictly anaerobic microorganisms, such as methanogens, whose importance and biotechnological applications are of utmost interest [6,7,8,9]. Microorganisms 2022, 10, 412 microbial substrates and product gasses alone is an important factor, which might render cultivation difficult or impossible in standard microbiological laboratories

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