Oxygen is either limiting or absent in many ecosystems. Anaerobic bacteria are often key players in such environments and these organisms have important roles in geo-elemental cycling, agriculture, and medicine. The metabolic versatility of anaerobes is exploited in a variety of industrial processes including fermented food production, biochemical synthesis, and bioremediation. There has been recent considerable interest in developing and enhancing technologies that employ anaerobes as biocatalysts. The study of anaerobic bacteria requires specialized techniques, and specific methods are described for the culture and manipulation of these microbes.