Facultative anaerobes are bacteria that can grow in both the presence or absence of oxygen. In addition to oxygen concentration, the oxygen reduction potential of the growth medium influences bacterial growth.

Which organism is a facultative anaerobe?

The most common examples of the facultative anaerobes are bacteria (e.g., Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus spp., Listeria spp., Salmonella, Shewanella oneidensis, and Yersinia pestis), Archaea, certain eukaryotes (e.g., Saccharomyces cerevisiae) and invertebrates, like nereid and polychaetes.

What are the characteristics of a facultative anaerobe?

Facultative anaerobes are usually defined as having three peculiar characteristics: (i) the ability to grow aerobically or anaerobically using oxygen (respiration) and organic com- pounds (fermentation) as final acceptors of electrons produced in catabolism; (ii) the preferential use of oxygen, if available, due to the ...