[Microbial diversity studies at the Winogradsky Institute of Microbiology]

Due to a chain of circumstances, some of them caused by unfavorable events, the Institute of Microbiology (INMI), Russian Academy of Sciences, continued the tradition of the "golden age" of microbiology of Winogradsky's time. The interest was focused on functional diversity of microorganisms as catalysts of natural chemical processes. The concept of a morphophysiological genus continues to play the key role in general microbiology, serving as an operational entity of the science. Researchers affiliated with INMI pioneered in describing 60 genera, constituting more than 4.9% of the 1228 validated genus designations as of January 1, 2004, and more than 6% of the nonpathogenic cultivable genera deposited at DSMZ. In addition to the formal biodiversity, other aspects of physiological and ecological diversity described by different classification schemes are considered. More recent findings were mostly in the field of alkaliphiles, acidophiles, thermophiles, and halophilic anaerobes, proliferating in extreme environments. Attempts to work out classifications of microorganisms with prognostic potential are presented.