Members of Dysgonomonas are Gram-stain-negative, non-motile, facultatively anaerobic coccobacilli originally described in relation to their isolation from stool and wounds of human patients (CDC group DF-3). More recently, Dysgonomonas have been found to be widely distributed in terrestrial environments and are particularly enriched in insect systems. Their prevalence in xylophagous insects such as termites and wood-feeding cockroaches, as well as in soil-fed microbial fuel cells, elicit interest in lignocellulose degradation and biofuel production, respectively. Their occurrence in mosquito and fruit fly have implications relating to symbiosis, host immunology and developmental biology. Additionally, their presence in termite, mosquito and nematode present novel opportunities for pest and vector control. Currently, the absolute growth requirements of Dysgonomonas are unknown, and they are commonly cultured under anaerobic conditions on complex media containing blood, peptones, tryptones, and yeast, plant or meat extracts. Restrictive and undefined culturing conditions preclude physiological and genetic studies, and thus further understanding of their metabolic potential. Here we describe the requirements for growth of termite-derived Dysgonomonas isolates and create parallel complex, defined and minimal media that permit vigorous and reliable aerobic growth. Furthermore, we show that these media can be used to easily enrich for Dysgonomonas isolates from densely-colonized and microbially-diverse environmental samples.

Dysgonomonas 的成员是革兰氏染色阴性、非运动性、兼性厌氧球杆菌，最初描述的是它们与人类患者的粪便和伤口的分离（CDC 组 DF-3）。最近，Dysgonomonas已被发现广泛分布在陆地环境中，并且在昆虫系统中特别丰富。它们在食木昆虫（如白蚁和食木蟑螂）以及土壤喂养的微生物燃料电池中的流行，分别引起了对木质纤维素降解和生物燃料生产的兴趣。它们在蚊子和果蝇中的出现与共生、宿主免疫学和发育生物学有关。此外，它们在白蚁、蚊子和线虫中的存在为害虫和病媒控制提供了新的机会。目前，Dysgonomonas的绝对生长要求未知，它们通常在厌氧条件下在含有血液、蛋白胨、胰蛋白胨和酵母、植物或肉提取物的复杂培养基上培养。限制性和未定义的培养条件排除了生理学和遗传学研究，从而进一步了解其代谢潜力。在这里，我们描述了白蚁衍生的Dysgonomonas分离株的生长要求，并创建平行的复杂、明确和最小的培养基，允许有力和可靠的有氧生长。此外，我们表明，这些培养基可用于从密集定殖和微生物多样化的环境样本中轻松富集Dysgonomonas分离株。