Challenges of unculturable bacteria: environmental perspectives

• Published in: Reviews in environmental science and biotechnology Vol. 19; no. 1; pp. 1 - 22
• Main Authors: Bodor, Attila, Bounedjoum, Naila, Vincze, György Erik, Erdeiné Kis, Ágnes, Laczi, Krisztián, Bende, Gábor, Szilágyi, Árpád, Kovács, Tamás, Perei, Katalin, Rákhely, Gábor
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Dordrecht Springer Netherlands 01.03.2020; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Atmospheric Protection/Air Quality Control/Air Pollution; Bacteria; Bioremediation; Biotechnology; Earth and Environmental Science; Environment; Environmental Engineering/Biotechnology; Environmental science; Limiting factors; Metabolites; Microbial activity; Microbiology; Microbiomes; Microorganisms; Pollutants; Polluted environments; Rehabilitation; Resuscitation; Review Paper; Siderophores; Viable but nonculturable bacteria; Environmental application of VBNC bacteria; Exploitation of microbial metabolic potential; Uncultured bacteria; Bacterial resuscitation
• ISSN: 1569-1705; 1572-9826
• DOI: 10.1007/s11157-020-09522-4

Environmental biotechnology offers several promising techniques for the rehabilitation of polluted environments. The modern industrialized world presents novel challenges to the environmental sciences, requiring a constant development and deepening of knowledge to enable the characterization of novel pollutants and a better understanding of the bioremediation strategies as well as their limiting factors. The success of bioremediation depends heavily on the survival and activities of indigenous microbial communities and their interaction with introduced microorganisms. The majority of natural microbiomes remain uncultivated; therefore, further investigations focusing on their intrinsic functions in ecosystems are needed. In this review, we aimed to provide (a) a comprehensive overview of the presence of viable but nonculturable bacteria and yet-to-be-cultivated cells in nature and their diverse awakening strategies in response to, among other factors, signalling extracellular metabolites (autoinducers, resuscitation promoting factors, and siderophores); (b) an outline of the trends in isolating unculturable bacteria; and (c) the potential applications of these hidden players in rehabilitation processes.