Marine Life Science & Technology

(2019-11-26 Visited: 865)

Microorganisms are wide spread in all marine environments with an estimated abundance of 104 to 106 cells/ml of seawater and up to 1010 cells/g of sediment, and play key roles in marine biogeochemical cycles. The 16S rRNA gene sequence-based approaches and metagenomics have revealed the vast diversity of the microorganisms in marine environment. However, more than 99 % of marine microorganisms have not yet been cultured (known as “uncultured microorganisms”). Although the culture-independent approaches have enabled elucidation of the marine microbial assemblies and metabolic potentials, pure cultures remain a prerequisite for microbiological studies. For example, pure cultures are essential for a comprehensive understanding of the physiology and biochemistry of these organisms and their roles in the complex environmental processes, and to enable the discovery of new products with biotechnological potentials such as new antibiotics and other secondary metabolites.

The establishment of pure cultures of important microbes (e.g., the dominant bacterial and archaeal phylotypes in marine environments) is still a major challenge for microbiologists. During the last two to three decades, considerable advances have been made in cultivation approaches making it possible to grow some important “key-player” microorganisms (e.g., SAR11) in the laboratory. Cultivation is no longer an “old fashioned” technique but an innovative and fast-moving area of research.

For this Special Issue, we seek review articles, original research papers and opinion pieces on new advances in the field of “Cultivation of the uncultured microorganisms”.

Examples of topics include:

•　Development and application of innovative culture techniques

•　Improvement of existing culture methods

•　Metagenomic data as a guideline for improving culturing approach

•　Strategies for cultivation of important “key-player” microorganisms

Guest editors