About

The Laboratory of Anaerobic Microorganisms (LAM) was established in 2015. This laboratory was founded by Monika Vítězová, head of the Department of Microbiology at the Institute of Experimental Biology at the Faculty of Science of Masaryk University in Brno. The establishment of the laboratory was a response to the need for research in the field of biotechnological use of anaerobic microorganisms. The laboratory represents a missing segment in the research on anaerobic methanogenic archaea and sulphate-reducing bacteria in the Czech Republic. It could be said that it is a unique microbiology laboratory of its kind in Europe in terms of its focus and use of traditional culture techniques. In addition to routine use of modern molecular biology tools for identification of microbial communities in environmental samples (PCR, NGS, etc.), we focus on modification of Hungate's original anaerobic culture techniques from the 1970s. However, the application of these techniques requires specialised equipment. In addition to the usual microbiology laboratory equipment such as inoculation boxes, autoclaves or thermostats, you will also encounter unusual elements in our laboratory. The distribution of different types of gases is essential, of which hydrogen, carbon dioxide and nitrogen are the most important for our work. These gases are mixed in different ratios thanks to the gas mixing station. The anaerobic environment can be simulated thanks to a fully automatic spacious glove box made by the American company Coy. A set of eight five-litre fermenters operating in the low-pressure range and two fermenters certified for pressures up to 50 bar complete the laboratory's equipment.