TY - JOUR
T1 - Enumeration of methanogens with a focus on fluorescence in situ hybridization
AU - Kumar, Sanjay
AU - Dagar, Sumit Singh
AU - Mohanty, Ashok Kumar
AU - Sirohi, Sunil Kumar
AU - Puniya, Monica
AU - Kuhad, Ramesh Chander
AU - Sangu, K. P. S.
AU - Griffith, Gareth Wyn
AU - Puniya, Anil Kumar
N1 - IMPF: 02.27
PY - 2011/6/1
Y1 - 2011/6/1
N2 - Methanogens, the members of domain Archaea are potent contributors in global warming. Being confined to the strict anaerobic environment, their direct cultivation as pure culture is quite difficult. Therefore, a range of culture-independent methods have been developed to investigate their numbers, substrate uptake patterns, and identification in complex microbial communities. Unlike other approaches, fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) is not only used for faster quantification and accurate identification but also to reveal the physiological properties and spatiotemporal dynamics of methanogens in their natural environment. Aside from the methodological aspects and application of FISH, this review also focuses on culture-dependent and -independent techniques employed in enumerating methanogens along with associated problems. In addition, the combination of FISH with micro-autoradiography that could also be an important tool in investigating the activities of methanogens is also discussed.
AB - Methanogens, the members of domain Archaea are potent contributors in global warming. Being confined to the strict anaerobic environment, their direct cultivation as pure culture is quite difficult. Therefore, a range of culture-independent methods have been developed to investigate their numbers, substrate uptake patterns, and identification in complex microbial communities. Unlike other approaches, fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) is not only used for faster quantification and accurate identification but also to reveal the physiological properties and spatiotemporal dynamics of methanogens in their natural environment. Aside from the methodological aspects and application of FISH, this review also focuses on culture-dependent and -independent techniques employed in enumerating methanogens along with associated problems. In addition, the combination of FISH with micro-autoradiography that could also be an important tool in investigating the activities of methanogens is also discussed.
KW - Archaea
KW - Fluorescence in situ hybridization
KW - Methanogens
KW - Methane
UR - http://hdl.handle.net/2160/12372
U2 - 10.1007/s00114-011-0791-2
DO - 10.1007/s00114-011-0791-2
M3 - Article
C2 - 21475941
SN - 0028-1042
VL - 98
SP - 457
EP - 472
JO - The Science of Nature
JF - The Science of Nature
IS - 6
ER -