Authors
Jon Matthews
Summary
Atmospheric condition is generally satisfactory for the culture of aerobes or facultative anaerobes but for the growth of many aerobes, it is necessary to provide extensive aeration. Forced aeration of cultures is therefore frequently desirable and can be achieved either by vigorously shaking the flask or tube on a shaker or by bubbling sterilized air into the medium. When aerobic organisms are to be grown in large quantities, it is advantageous to increase the exposure of the medium to the atmosphere. This can be accomplished by dispensing the medium in shallow layers or by providing aeration by constantly shaking the inoculated liquid cultures.
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Introduction
The physiology of the microorganisms and the relevant metabolic pathways must be well understood, and the nutrient (and air in the case of aerobic cultures) requirements of the microorganism must be satisfied. These needs often change as the microbial biomass increases in concentration and the environmental conditions (e.g., nutrient composition, temperature, pH) are altered. What leads to a better oxygen supply of the culture and to a higher product formation compared to the reference strain, whether the selected strain has an improved pathway for product formation or not, these problems may occur in medium development.
Screening for improved culture conditions plays a decisive role in the bioindustry. Selection of specific strains, medium development, and optimization of growth and product formation are only a few examples that require experimental investigations, which are usually done in shake flasks. Defined and reproducible experimental conditions are absolutely necessary requirements for successful screening experiments. Especially, a sufficient oxygen supply is crucial for the growth and product formation of most industrially used aerobic cultures.
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