The Micro- and Molecular Biology research group at the Bavarian State Research Center for Agriculture (LfL), Freising, Germany, is led by Dr. Lebuhn. The scientific focus of LfL is the development and improvement of analytical methods in relation to agriculture, including hygiene issues of biogas processes, analysis and optimization of the biogas producing microbial community, and the involvement of specialists such as anaerobic fungi.

 

A combination of molecular and bioinformatics tools along with cultivation routines is used to address these questions. Our expertise is based on years of experience with the optimization of molecular detection techniques, including nucleic acid extraction methods, quality control of nucleic acids, design of specific primers and probes, (q)PCR and RT(q)PCR based approaches to assess the quantity and the activity of microorganisms, analysis of microbiota and bioinformatics based evaluation of sequence data. LfL is well equipped for the cultivation and microscopic observation of (an)aerobes.

 

In 2012, the utilization of anaerobic fungi became one of the major scientific fields. A previous project was devoted to the issue if the efficiency of biogas production from fiber-rich substrates can be enhanced by anaerobic fungi. Microbial resources resting in animals, feeding on a high fiber diet, e.g. the alpine goat, were accessed. Anaerobic fungi, also novel strains, have been isolated and are being characterized for further application.