Introduction to the Isolation and Cultivation of Microbes Involved in the Hydrocarbon Cycle

Our knowledge of the uncultivated microbial majority is driving innovative approaches to cultivation, alongside novel cultivation-independent methods, to better understand microbial ecophysiology, biochemistry, and evolution. Biotechnological applications also provide a major impetus for obtaining microbial cultures, particularly in the field of hydrocarbon and lipid cycling, which address important societal challenges, including: biofuel production, anaerobic digestion, bioplastic synthesis, and mitigating the effects of diverse hydrocarbon pollutants and climate-active gases. This chapter provides a brief overview of cultivation strategies, focussing on those approaches that are most relevant to hydrocarbon cycling. The areas covered include: sample handling, strategies for delivery of carbon and energy sources and terminal electron acceptors, consideration of the physicochemical environment, supply of metabolites and undefined environmental components, assays for microbes, and preservation of cultures.