An Evaluation of the 'GasKit'Disposable Hydrogen and Carbon Dioxide Generator for the Culture of Anaerobic Bacteria

The new GasKit disposable hydrogen and carbon dioxide generator is a reliable and convenient method for producing anaerobiosis in standard anaerobic jars when compared with a conventional procedure. The generator produces an atmosphere containing 10–12% carbon dioxide by volume which is satisfactory for the culture of exacting anaerobes.     

An Evaluation of the Carbon Dioxide Component in the GasPak Anaerobic System

The GasPak disposable hydrogen and carbon dioxide generator is a convenient and reliable method for producing anaerobiosis in the GasPak system. As a source of carbon dioxide, however, the generator is inadequate, uncontrolled and unreliable.     

Micromethod System for Identification of Anaerobic Bacteria

A micromethod multitest system prepared by Analytab Products, Inc. and conventional tests employed at the Center for Disease Control for identification of anaerobes were compared. All procedures were conducted in an anaerobic glove box. A total of 104 cultures, including 18 reference strains and 86 diagnostic cultures, were examined. Ninety-one percent of the total tests performed with the two systems were in agreement. Greater than 90% agreement between the two systems was obtained with 12 of the 17 differential tests compared. The tests for nitrate reduction and H(2)S production gave the poorest agreement, 77.8 and 80.8%, respectively. Only 66% of the 86 diagnostic cultures could be presumptively identified with the micromethod system supplemented only with microscopy and colonial characteristics. However, when appropriate supplementary tests and gas-liquid chromatography were used with the micromethod system, 85% of the 86 strains could be identified. When Ehrlich reagent, instead of Kovac reagent, was used with the micromethod to test for indole, the agreement in identification was raised to 93%.     

Anaerobic Simulated Mixed Culture System

A compartmented, autoclavable culture vessel has been developed for the purpose of studying interactive associations of microorganisms which are essential to the anaerobic decomposition of sewage sludge. The unit employs sterile filter membranes to subdivide the interior culture space into individual compartments. Bacteria cultured in one compartment are denied access to adjacent compartments, even though rapid interchange of nutrients and metabolic waste products occurs throughout the unit. The obligate methane-forming anaerobe, Methanobacillus omelianskii has been successfully grown and concentrated in this system by use of a synthetic medium reduced with sodium sulfide. The feasibility of using this system to study microbial interactions was, in part, demonstrated by growing M. omelianskii in a thoroughly aerated medium which had been biologically reduced by Escherichia coli prior to inoculation with the anaerobe. Under this condition of simulated mixed culture growth, the cell yield of both microorganisms, as well as specific metabolic activities ascribed to each organism, was readily monitored.     

Comparison of Three Blood Culture Media for Recovery of Anaerobic Bacteria

Comparison of an anaerobic brain heart infusion broth with tryptic soy broth and Thioglycollate medium failed to demonstrate significant differences in isolation rates of anaerobic bacteria from blood.     

Isolation, Culture Characteristics, and Identification of Anaerobic Bacteria from the Chicken Cecum

Studies on the anaerobic cecal microflora of the 5-week-old chicken were made to determine a suitable roll-tube medium for enumeration and isolation of the bacterial population, to determine effects of medium components on recovery of total anaerobes, and to identify the predominant bacterial groups. The total number of microorganisms in cecal contents determined by direct microscope cell counts varied (among six samples) from 3.83 x 10(10) to 7.64 x 10(10) per g. Comparison of different nonselective media indicated that 60% of the direct microscope count could be recovered with a rumen fluid medium (M98-5) and 45% with medium 10. Deletion of rumen fluid from M98-5 reduced the total anaerobic count by half. Colony counts were lower if chicken cecal extract was substituted for rumen fluid in M98-5. Supplementing medium 10 with liver, chicken fecal, or cecal extracts improved recovery of anaerobes slightly. Prereduced blood agar media were inferior to M98-5. At least 11 groups of bacteria were isolated from high dilutions (10(-9)) of cecal material. Data on morphology and physiological and fermentation characteristics of 90% of the 298 isolated strains indicated that these bacteria represented species of anaerobic gram-negative cocci, facultatively anaerobic cocci and streptococci, Peptostreptococcus, Propionibacterium, Eubacterium, Bacteroides, and Clostridium. The growth of many of these strains was enhanced by rumen fluid, yeast extract, and cecal extract additions to basal media. These studies indicate that some of the more numerous anaerobic bacteria present in chicken cecal digesta can be isolated and cultured when media and methods that have been developed for ruminal bacteria are employed.     

厌氧细菌L型的诱导

用苯唑青霉素、羧苄青霉素对脆弱类杆菌、多形类杆菌、核梭杆菌、产气荚膜杆菌和艰难杆菌等5种厌氧菌进行L型菌的诱导。通过诱导,可见到脆弱类杆菌、多形类杆菌和产气荚膜杆菌形成油煎蛋状或颗粒状菌落。革兰氏染色镜检,见到菌体肿胀,并有丝状体、圆球体和巨球体。细胞壁染色法可见到部分细菌因胞壁缺损而被结晶紫透入菌体着色。诱导后的少数细菌可转变成可滤过型而能通过0.4μm孔径的滤膜。核梭杆菌诱导后形态改变极显著而较难识别。艰难杆菌形态改变小。建设在临床标本细菌培养时,有时尚需增加L型厌氧菌培养,以提高检出率。     

Oxygen Sensitivity of Various Anaerobic Bacteria

Anaerobes differ in their sensitivity to oxygen, as two patterns were recognizable in the organisms included in this study. Strict anaerobes were species incapable of agar surface growth at pO(2) levels greater than 0.5%. Species that were found to be strict anaerobes were Treponema macrodentium, Treponema denticola, Treponema oralis n. sp., Clostridium haemolyticum, Selenomonas ruminatium, Butyrivibrio fibrisolvens, Succinivibrio dextrinosolvens, and Lachnospira multiparus. Moderate anaerobes would include those species capable of growth in the presence of oxygen levels as high as 2 to 8%. The moderate anaerobes could be exposed to room atmosphere for 60 to 90 min without appreciable loss of viability. Species considered as moderate anaerobes were Bacteroides fragilis, B. melaninogenicus, B. oralis, Fusobacteria nucleatum, Clostridium novyi type A, and Peptostreptococcus elsdenii. The recognition of at least two general types of anaerobes would seem to have practical import in regard to the primary isolation of anaerobes from source material.