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Does Cultivation Still Matter?, Page 1 of 2
< Previous page Next page > /docserver/preview/fulltext/10.1128/9781555815509/9781555814069_Chap01-1.gif /docserver/preview/fulltext/10.1128/9781555815509/9781555814069_Chap01-2.gifAbstract:
Recently several advances have been made to overcome cultivation biases and have spurred renewed interest in classical microbiology as well as in innovative isolation techniques. Researchers have discovered many clades of so far uncultivated microorganisms while analyzing the genetic information obtained from analyzing soil samples by various methods. This chapter focuses on aspects that are often not considered during cultivation, such as salt components of the medium, the choice of gelling agents and glassware, the size of sample and inoculum, the time of incubation, and how colonies are being detected. It provides detailed and resourceful advice for successful cultivation approaches. The goal of studies focusing on expressed gene products, such as RNA profiling and metaproteome, is not only to determine the genetic potential of an environment but to find out which genes are expressed at a certain moment in time under certain conditions. It is likely that not all microbes can be accessible as defined cultures in the laboratory by using current technology. Therefore, the development and combination of innovative techniques to study uncultivated microorganisms, ideally in their natural environment, is essential to advance the understanding of microbial physiology and ecology, and shed light on these most diverse creatures on our planet.