This Article Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Reprints and Permissions Copyright Information Books from ASM Press MicrobeWorld Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Allison, C Articles by MacFarlane, G T Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Allison, C Articles by MacFarlane, G T Agricola Articles by Allison, C Articles by MacFarlane, G T

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Appl Environ Microbiol. 1989 March; 55(3): 672-678

Studies on mixed populations of human intestinal bacteria grown in single-stage and multistage continuous culture systems.

C Allison, C McFarlan and G T MacFarlane

Medical Research Council, Dunn Clinical Nutrition Centre, Cambridge, United Kingdom.

ABSTRACT

Mixed intestinal bacteria were grown for 336 h in two identical single-stage chemostats at low growth rates in a carbohydrate-limited medium. Complex bacterial populations were maintained and anaerobes always outnumbered aerobes. The predominant organisms belonged to the genera Bacteroides, Bifidobacterium, Lactobacillus, Clostridium, Eubacterium, Propionbacterium, Peptococcus, and Peptostreptococcus. Bacteroides species predominated in both fermentors, particularly B. ovatus and B. thetaiotaomicron. A high degree of reproducibility of bacteriological and fermentation product data was obtained in these experiments. When gut contents were inoculated into a five-stage continuous culture system (retention time of 79 or 38 h) containing soya bran, the medium flow rate had little quantitative effect on the formation of acidic fermentation products; however, more oxidized fermentation acids were produced at the higher retention time. Diverse bacterial populations were maintained in every vessel at each flow rate. Bacteroides fragilis group organisms, especially B. ovatus, were numerically the most important. The viability of bacteria decreased through the system, especially at a retention time of 79 h, when the bacteria were growing under severely nutrient-limited conditions.

---

Appl Environ Microbiol. 1989 March; 55(3): 672-678

This article has been cited by other articles:

• Duncan, S. H., Scott, K. P., Ramsay, A. G., Harmsen, H. J. M., Welling, G. W., Stewart, C. S., Flint, H. J. (2003). Effects of Alternative Dietary Substrates on Competition between Human Colonic Bacteria in an Anaerobic Fermentor System. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 69: 1136-1142 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Duncan, S. H., Richardson, A. J., Kaul, P., Holmes, R. P., Allison, M. J., Stewart, C. S. (2002). Oxalobacter formigenes and Its Potential Role in Human Health. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 68: 3841-3847 [Abstract] [Full Text]