Developments

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.- 2.2.1 Light-harvesting systems.- 2.2.2 Reaction centre.- 2.2.3 Proton translocation and phosphorylation.- 2.2.4 Production of reducing power.- 2.3 Non-photosynthetic ATP production.- 2.4 Electron transport linked phosphorylation: anaerobic respiration.- 2.4.1 Methanogens.- 2.4.2 Sulphidogens: sulphate reduction.- 2.4.3 Fumarate reduction.- 2.5 Substrate-level phosphorylation: fermentation.- 2.5.1 Single amino acids.- 2.5.2 Pairs of amino acids.- 2.5.3 Sugars.- 2.5.4 Purines and pyrimidines.- 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.- 3.1.1 Hungate technique.- 3.1.2 Anaerobic cabinet.- 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.- 4.2.1 The Chromatiaceae (or purple sulphur bacteria).- 4.2.2 The anaerobic green sulphur bacteria.- 4.3 Spirochaetes.- 4.4 Anaerobic Gram-negative bacilli.- 4.4.1 Bacteroides.- 4.4.2 Fusobacterium and Leptotrichia.- 4.4.3 Other Gram-negative bacilli.- 4.4.4 Sulphate-reducing bacteria.- 4.5 The methanogenic bacteria.- 4.6 Anaerobic cocci.- 4.7 Gram-positive non-sporing bacilli.- 4.7.1 Lactobacillus.- 4.7.2 Bifidobacterium.- 4.7.3 Eubacterium.- 4.7.4 Propionibacterium.- 4.7.5 Actinomyces.- 4.7.6 Micromonospora.- 4.8 Endospore-forming anaerobes.- 4.9 Wall-deficient bacteria: L-forms and Anaeroplasma.- 4.10 Microaerophilic bacteria.- 4.10.1 Campylobacter.- 4.10.2 Spirillum volutans.- 4.10.3 Beggiatoaceae.- 4.10.4 Zymomonas.- 4.10.5 Other microaerophilic bacteria.- 4.11 Anaerobes of the future.- 5 Anaerobes in Natural Environments.- 5.1 The gastro-intestinal tract.- 5.2 The rumen.- 5.2.1 The rumen environment.- 5.2.2 Bacterial carbon metabolism.- 5.2.3 Metabolism of other compounds.- 5.2.4 The rumen as a continuous culture system.- 5.2.5 Protozoa.- 5.2.6 Disturbance of rumen microbiology.- 5.2.7 Methods of investigation.- 5.3 Human intestinal flora.- 5.3.1 The intestinal environment.- 5.3.2 The bacteria of the intestine.- 5.3.3 The function of the intestinal bacteria.- 5.3.4 Intestinal flora and cancer.- 5.4 The intestine of other animals.- 5.4.1 Hind-gut fermentation.- 5.5 The bacteria of the mouth.- 5.6 Anaerobic habitats in other parts of the body.- 5.7 Aquatic and marine habitats.- 5.7.1 Transient bacteria.- 5.7.2 Anaerobic activities and the carbon cycle.- 5.7.3 The sulphur cycle.- 5.7.4 Sulphureta.- 5.7.5 Stabilization ponds.- 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.- 6.2.1 Clostridium tetani.- 6.2.2 Clostridium botulinum.- 6.2.3 Other Clostridia.- 6.2.4 Clostridium perfringens food poisoning.- 6.3 Campylobacter.- 6.4 Bacteroides.- 6.5 Treponema pallidum.- 7 Industrial Applications of Anaerobes.- 7.1 Retting.- 7.2 Chemical production by anaerobes.- 7.2.1 The acetone-butanol process.- 7.2.2 Ethanol production.- 7.2.3 Fatty acid production and related processes.- 7.3 Anaerobic digestion.- 7.3.1 The process of anaerobic digestion.- 7.3.2 Methane production from landfill sites.- 7.3.3 Bacterial sulphide production.- 7.3.4 Microbiology of anaerobic digestion.- 7.4 Vaccines.- 7.5 Biochemicals and enzymes.- 7.6 Future possibilities.- References.