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Present and Future of Culturing Bacteria.
Jörg Overmann1,2, Birte Abt1,2, Johannes Sikorski1
1Leibniz-Institute DSMZ-German Collection of Microorganisms and Cell Cultures, 38124 Braunschweig, Germany;
Annual Review of Microbiology
|July 22, 2017
Summary
New cultivation strategies are unlocking novel bacteria by mimicking natural environments and using advanced techniques. This approach aims to discover new biochemical features and biosynthetic pathways from underexplored microbial diversity.
Area of Science:
- Microbiology
- Genomics
- Biotechnology
Background:
- Bacterial cultivation is biased towards a few known groups, leaving many lineages underexplored.
- Underexplored bacteria may possess novel biosynthetic pathways and biochemical features.
- Understanding bacterial ecology is key to developing new cultivation concepts.
Purpose of the Study:
- To explore novel bacterial lineages and their potential for new biochemical discoveries.
- To improve cultivation techniques for previously uncultured bacteria.
- To leverage genomics and advanced cultivation to access microbial diversity.
Main Methods:
- Developing improved media mimicking natural substrate and nutrient conditions.
- Employing high-throughput cultivation techniques and exploiting biofilm formation.
- Utilizing metagenomics and single-cell genomics for metabolic feature discovery.
- Complementing with culture-independent physiological analyses.
Main Results:
- New cultivation concepts have successfully enriched previously uncultured bacteria.
- Metagenomics and single-cell genomics reveal metabolic potential of novel bacteria.
- Challenges remain in isolating and preserving newly enriched bacterial types.
Conclusions:
- Improved cultivation methods are crucial for accessing microbial diversity.
- Combining ecological insights with advanced genomics enhances discovery of novel bacteria.
- Future work must focus on refining isolation and preservation techniques for novel bacterial recovery.
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