The advances of strategies and technologies in high-throughput microbial culturomics

The growing demand for novel antibiotics, industrial enzymes, and environmentally sustainable biotechnological solutions is drawing increasing attention to more efficient strategies for microbial resource discovery across biomedical, industrial, and ecological domains. To meet this need, high-throughput microbial culturomics has emerged as a powerful strategy that integrates advanced cultivation platforms, diverse growth conditions, and rapid identification technologies. This review explores two principal paradigms within high-throughput microbial culturomics: the function-driven screening-first strategy and the enrichment-based cultivation-first strategy. Their technical foundations, application scenarios, and inherent limitations are examined in detail, providing a comparative analysis of their respective advantages and challenges. We further emphasize the importance of high-throughput identification methods, which play a crucial role in classifying isolates and revealing their functional potential. Ultimately, the review explores future directions for the development of automated, fully integrated cultivation platforms that integrate large-scale experimentation with data-driven optimization. By offering a structured comparison of culturomics strategies, integration pathways, and key obstacles, this review serves as a methodological reference for advancing microbial isolation, functional screening, and biotechnological innovation.