Mixed Strain Fermentation and Metabonomics for Solving Issues of Bioproduction.

In the research of mixed microbial cultures, the numbers and identifications of individual strains are often fully or partially unknown. Their metabolic capabilities are also partially unpredictable, especially if the joint potential is to be understood. In these kinds of situations, deeper insight into the variable microbial communities cannot be obtained by genetic analysis only. Even more critical than the taxonomic aspect is usually the functional metabolic outcome of the mixed flora in question. The results from such studies as NMR (nucleic magnetic resonance) give a precise view from versatile angles into the biochemical activities during the multiparametric metabolic responses of the microflora as a whole.Originally, metabonomics was mainly used for the pathophysiological research of various microbes or for recording the genetic or biochemical modifications of mixed microflora. This approach offers a tool for monitoring changes in microscopic or otherwise confined ecosystems or multiple locations from which representative specimens are difficult to obtain. In microbiological studies, the research group can attain overall views on variable populations and their alterations in time and space.