Skip to main content
Applied and Environmental Microbiology logoLink to Applied and Environmental Microbiology
. 1983 Jan;45(1):317–318. doi: 10.1128/aem.45.1.317-318.1983

Stability of Methanobrevibacter smithii Populations in the Microbial Flora Excreted from the Human Large Bowel

Terry L Miller 1, Meyer J Wolin 1
PMCID: PMC242276  PMID: 6824322

Abstract

Total anaerobic bacteria and Methanobrevibacter smithii populations were enumerated in fecal specimens from two individuals over 10- and 13-month periods. The ratio of M. smithii to total anaerobic count varied between the individuals, but it was a relatively constant proportion of the large-bowel microbial flora within each individual. Neither a barium enema examination of one subject nor a radical change in the diet of the other had any long-term effect on the methanogen populations.

Full text

PDF
317

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Bond J. H., Jr, Engel R. R., Levitt M. D. Factors influencing pulmonary methane excretion in man. An indirect method of studying the in situ metabolism of the methane-producing colonic bacteria. J Exp Med. 1971 Mar 1;133(3):572–588. doi: 10.1084/jem.133.3.572. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Miller T. L., Wolin M. J. A serum bottle modification of the Hungate technique for cultivating obligate anaerobes. Appl Microbiol. 1974 May;27(5):985–987. doi: 10.1128/am.27.5.985-987.1974. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Miller T. L., Wolin M. J. Enumeration of Methanobrevibacter smithii in human feces. Arch Microbiol. 1982 Feb;131(1):14–18. doi: 10.1007/BF00451492. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Applied and Environmental Microbiology are provided here courtesy of American Society for Microbiology (ASM)

RESOURCES