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An obligate aerobe is an organism that requires oxygen to grow. (1996). 9780697293909, Wm. C. Brown Publishers. ISBN 9780697293909 Through cellular respiration, these organisms use oxygen to metabolise substances, like sugars or fats, to obtain energy. In this type of respiration, oxygen serves as the terminal electron acceptor for the electron transport chain. Aerobic respiration has the advantage of yielding more energy (adenosine triphosphate or ATP) than fermentation or anaerobic respiration, but obligate aerobes are subject to high levels of oxidative stress."Obligate aerobe - definition from Biology-Online.org." Biology Online. Biology-Online, n.d. Web. 12 Dec 2009.
| +Table 1. Terms used to describe O2 Relations of Microorganisms. ! rowspan="2" | Group ! colspan="2" | Environment ! rowspan="2" | O2 Effect |
| Obligate Aerobe | Growth | No growth | Required (used for aerobic respiration) |
| Obligate Anaerobe | No growth | Growth | Toxic |
| Facultative Anaerobe (Facultative Aerobe) | Growth | Growth | Not required for growth but used when available |
| Microaerophile | Growth if level is not too high | No growth | Required but at levels below 0.2 atm |
| Aerotolerant Anaerobe | Growth | Growth | Not required and not used |
A unique obligate aerobe is Streptomyces coelicolor which is gram-positive, soil-dwelling, and belongs to the phylum Actinomycetota. It is unique because the genome of this obligate aerobe encodes numerous Enzyme with functions that are usually attributed to anaerobic metabolism in facultatively and strictly anaerobic bacteria.
Problems can also arise in oxygen-rich environments, most commonly attributed to oxidative stress. This occurrence is when there is an imbalance of free radicals and Antioxidant in the cells of the organism, largely due to pollution and radiation in the environment. Obligate aerobes survive this phenomenon by using the organism's immune system to correct the imbalance.
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