The Library
Next-generation sequencing—the promise and perils of charting the great microbial unknown
Tools
Tools
Tools
Snyder, Lori A. S., Loman, Nicholas J., Pallen, Mark J. and Penn, C. W. (2009) Next-generation sequencing—the promise and perils of charting the great microbial unknown. Microbial Ecology, 57 (1). pp. 1-3. doi:10.1007/s00248-008-9465-9
Research output not available from this repository, contact author.
Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00248-008-9465-9
Abstract
Studies of microorganisms in pure laboratory culture for over
a century have delivered fruitful insights into microbial
genetics and physiology, underpinning biotechnology, and
molecular biology. Yet most bacteria cannot be or have not
been cultured under laboratory conditions. Microorganisms in
their natural environments live in complex, mixed, and
interdependent microbial communities (e.g. in soil, feces,
sewage, rivers, oceans), with key roles in the biosphere. These
systems are intimately connected with the big challenges for
the future of human existence: agriculture and food production,
diet and health, and impact of human communities on
the natural environment. Knowledge and understanding of the
biodiversity of bacteria is minimal in comparison with the
diversity of higher plants and animals, where perhaps 90–99%
of all species are known. In stark contrast, it is estimated that
less than 1% of bacterial diversity is known. Even in the
human microbial ecosystem, which has perhaps been the most
studied, hundreds of bacterial species prosper yet the majority
have never been cultured and characterized in the laboratory
and their significance to health is unknown. The invisible and
often neglected bacterial component in natural ecosystems
dominates their biological diversity. It often underlies the
unpredictable and sometimes deleterious behavior of natural
systems when perturbed by human activity
| Item Type: | Journal Article | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Divisions: | Faculty of Medicine > Warwick Medical School > Biomedical Sciences > Microbiology & Infection Faculty of Medicine > Warwick Medical School |
||||
| Journal or Publication Title: | Microbial Ecology | ||||
| Publisher: | Springer | ||||
| ISSN: | 0095-3628 | ||||
| Official Date: | January 2009 | ||||
| Dates: |
|
||||
| Volume: | 57 | ||||
| Number: | 1 | ||||
| Page Range: | pp. 1-3 | ||||
| DOI: | 10.1007/s00248-008-9465-9 | ||||
| Status: | Peer Reviewed | ||||
| Publication Status: | Published | ||||
| Access rights to Published version: | Restricted or Subscription Access |
Request changes or add full text files to a record
Repository staff actions (login required)
 |
View Item |
