The Cultivation Lab focusses on aerobic and anaerobic enrichment and isolation of bacteria and archaea (microbial cultivation) as well as morphological, physiological and phylogenetic characterization. It covers simulation experiments and investigates adaptation to extremes.

This lab is dedicated for carrying out various microbial techniques in a sterile environment. These include the isolation of fungi on agar media from soil samples, the purification of DNA from microbial cultures and soil samples, and setting up of soil microcosm experiments. Sterile conditions are created by the laminar flow workbench, the use of sterile disposable instruments (e.g., inoculation loops, pipette tips) and by sterilizing surfaces with 70% ethanol and/or isopropanol solutions. The …

This lab is specialized on radioisotope tracer studies involving direct measurements of the turnover or incorporation of radioactively labelled compounds. The following radiotracer techniques are employed: measurement of sulfate reduction rate with ³⁵S radiotracer, methanogenesis rate with ¹⁴C radiotracer, and methane oxidation rate with ¹⁴C radiotracer. The laboratory equipment includes a distillation setup for reduced sulfur species, a high-pressure thermal gradient incubation system, a …