Microbial synergy is a phenomenon in which
aerobic
Aerobic means "requiring air," in which "air" usually means oxygen.
Aerobic may also refer to
* Aerobic exercise, prolonged exercise of moderate intensity
* Aerobics, a form of aerobic exercise
* Aerobic respiration, the aerobic process of cel ...
and
anaerobic microbes support each other's growth and proliferation. In this process aerobes invade and destroy host tissues, reduce tissue oxygen concentration and
redox potential
Redox potential (also known as oxidation / reduction potential, ''ORP'', ''pe'', ''E_'', or E_) is a measure of the tendency of a chemical species to acquire electrons from or lose electrons to an electrode and thereby be reduced or oxidised respe ...
, thus creating favorable conditions for anaerobic growth and proliferation. Anaerobes grow and produce short chain
fatty acid
In chemistry, particularly in biochemistry, a fatty acid is a carboxylic acid with an aliphatic chain, which is either saturated or unsaturated. Most naturally occurring fatty acids have an unbranched chain of an even number of carbon atoms, ...
s such as
butyric acid,
propionic acid. These short chain fatty acids inhibit
phagocytosis
Phagocytosis () is the process by which a cell uses its plasma membrane to engulf a large particle (≥ 0.5 μm), giving rise to an internal compartment called the phagosome. It is one type of endocytosis. A cell that performs phagocytosis is ...
of aerobes. Thus aerobes grow, proliferate and destroy more tissues. Microbial synergy complicates and delays the healing of surgical and other chronic wounds or ulcers such as
diabetic foot ulcers,
venous ulcers,
pressure ulcers etc. Microbial synergy also helps with eliminating oxygen redox. This allows the growth of organisms without the effects of oxygen reacting negatively. As a result, Microbial growth increases because other organisms can grow in the absence of Oxygen redox.
References
Rotstein, O. D., T. L. Pruett, and R. L. Simmons. "Mechanisms of Microbial Synergy in Polymicrobial Surgical Infections." Reviews of Infectious Diseases. U.S. National Library of Medicine, n.d. Web. 19 Apr. 2017.
Microbial growth and nutrition
Microbiology
{{Microbiology-stub