ABSTRACT
Continuous-flow slide culture offers more precise physico-chemical control of the cell environment. New medium is continuously supplied, the preventing the depletion of substrate and the accumulation of metabolic wastes. Although the chemostat approach is an improvement over batch culture, there are several potential sources of error. Traditional microculture methods, using semi-solid agar, agar blocks, or static liquid media have several disadvantages in the study of microbial behavior. Observation of predator-prey interactions and microbial competition is critical in understanding the development, structure, and function of any ecosystem. A central problem in microbial ecology is the understanding of microbial growth and behavior under in situ conditions. The development of microbial ecology has been slowed somewhat by the tacit assumption that microorganisms, like elements and molecules, have fixed properties. Microorganisms form surface biofilms in bioreactors, biological contactors, trickling filters, soil, on minerals, on particulate substrates, within the rhizosphere, in the phyllosphere, within the intestines, on the skin, in the oral cavity, and elsewhere.
