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This book is appropriate for advanced undergraduate students of micro biology and biological sciences in universities and colleges, as well as for research workers entering the field and requiring a broad contemporary view of anaerobic bacteria and associated concepts. Obligate anaerobes, together with microaerophils, are characterized by their sensitivity to oxygen. This dictates specialized laboratory methods a fact which has led to many students being less familiar with anaerobes than their distribution and importance would warrant The metabolic strategies such as methanogenesis, an oxygenic photosynthesis and diverse fermenta tive pathways which do not have equivalents in aerobic bacteria also make anaerobes worthy of attention. In these limited pages an attempt has been made to cover the varied aspects of anaerobic bacteria, and a bibliography has been included, which will allow individual topics to be pursued in greater detail. We are grateful to Mrs Winifred Webster and Mrs Hilary Holdsworth for typing the manuscript and to the Leeds University Audio Visual Service for preparing the figures. Finally, our thanks go to the students, postgradu ates and wives who read and criticized the manuscript.
List of contents
1 Anaerobes and Oxygen.- 1.1 Oxygen toxicity.- 1.2 The intolerance of anaerobes.- 1.3 Oxygen and redox potential.- 1.4 Oxygen and growth media.- 2 Physiology of Anaerobes.- 2.1 Energy transduction: general considerations.- 2.2 Photosynthetic mechanisms.- 2.3 Non-photosynthetic ATP production.- 2.4 Electron transport linked phosphorylation: anaerobic respiration.- 2.5 Substrate-level phosphorylation: fermentation.- 2.6 Carbon dioxide fixation.- 2.7 Other aspects of metabolism.- 2.8 Transport of substrates by anaerobes.- 2.9 Antimicrobial agents.- 3 Techniques in Anaerobic Microbiology.- 3.1 Oxygen exclusion technique.- 3.2 Anaerobic incubation systems.- 3.3 Growth techniques for microaerophiles.- 3.4 Specialized media.- 3.5 Methods for isolation and selection of particular anaerobes.- 3.6 Miscellaneous techniques.- 3.7 Continuous culture.- 4 Types of Anaerobic and Microaerophilic Bacteria.- 4.1 Origins.- 4.2 Phototrophic bacteria.- 4.3 Spirochaetes.- 4.4 Anaerobic Gram-negative bacilli.- 4.5 The methanogenic bacteria.- 4.6 Anaerobic cocci.- 4.7 Gram-positive non-sporing bacilli.- 4.8 Endospore-forming anaerobes.- 4.9 Wall-deficient bacteria: L-forms and Anaeroplasma.- 4.10 Microaerophilic bacteria.- 4.11 Anaerobes of the future.- 5 Anaerobes in Natural Environments.- 5.1 The gastro-intestinal tract.- 5.2 The rumen.- 5.3 Human intestinal flora.- 5.4 The intestine of other animals.- 5.5 The bacteria of the mouth.- 5.6 Anaerobic habitats in other parts of the body.- 5.7 Aquatic and marine habitats.- 5.8 Soil.- 5.9 Study of habitats.- 5.10 Detrimental effects of obligate anaerobes.- 6 Anaerobes of Medical Importance.- 6.1 Aetiology, incidence and sites of infection.- 6.2 Clostridia.- 6.3 Campylobacter.- 6.4 Bacteroides.- 6.5 Treponema pallidum.- 7 Industrial Applications ofAnaerobes.- 7.1 Retting.- 7.2 Chemical production by anaerobes.- 7.3 Anaerobic digestion.- 7.4 Vaccines.- 7.5 Biochemicals and enzymes.- 7.6 Future possibilities.- References.
