Innovations to culturing the uncultured microbial majority

Despite the surge of microbial genome data, experimental testing is important to confirm inferences about the cell biology, ecological roles and evolution of microorganisms. As the majority of archaeal and bacterial diversity remains uncultured and poorly characterized, culturing is a priority. The...

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Published inNature reviews. Microbiology Vol. 19; no. 4; pp. 225 - 240
Main Authors Lewis, William H, Tahon, Guillaume, Geesink, Patricia, Sousa, Diana Z, Ettema, Thijs J G
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published England Nature Publishing Group 01.04.2021
Subjects
Archaea
Archaea - growth & development
Archaea - isolation & purification
Bacteria
Bacteria - growth & development
Bacteria - isolation & purification
Bacteriological Techniques - methods
Cell culture
Cultivation
Culture Media
Genomes
Microbial genetics
Microbiological research
Microorganisms
Reviews
Netherlands
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Summary:Despite the surge of microbial genome data, experimental testing is important to confirm inferences about the cell biology, ecological roles and evolution of microorganisms. As the majority of archaeal and bacterial diversity remains uncultured and poorly characterized, culturing is a priority. The growing interest in and need for efficient cultivation strategies has led to many rapid methodological and technological advances. In this Review, we discuss common barriers that can hamper the isolation and culturing of novel microorganisms and review emerging, innovative methods for targeted or high-throughput cultivation. We also highlight recent examples of successful cultivation of novel archaea and bacteria, and suggest key microorganisms for future cultivation attempts.
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ISSN:1740-1526
1740-1534
DOI:10.1038/s41579-020-00458-8