Microbial Diversity: The Gap between the Estimated and the Known

Abstract

Abstract:The ecological and biotechnological services that microorganisms provide to the planet and human society highlight the need to understand and preserve microbial diversity, which is widely distributed, challenging the severity of certain environments. Cataloging this diversity has also challenged the methods that are currently used to isolate and grow microorganisms, because most of the microbiota that are present in environmental samples have been described as unculturable. Factors such as geographic isolation and host preference also hinder the assessment of microbial diversity. However, prejudiced historical practices, including the prioritization of some species of microorganisms merely because they cause diseases, have long shifted research on fungi and bacteria towards medically relevant microorganisms. Thus, most microorganisms that inhabit the planet are still unknown, as is the potential of these species. Current estimates allow us to predict that the diversity of microorganisms that are present in the various terrestrial ecosystems is enormous. However, understanding this diversity is a challenge for the future of microbial ecology research.

Bioprospecting Microbial Diversity for Lignin Valorization: Dry and Wet Screening Methods

“…The primary bacterial models used for lignin degradation studies are represented by members of Proteobacteria and Actinobacteria, followed by a minor fraction performed by Firmicute species (Tian et al, 2014;Vitorino and Bessa, 2018). Among them, particular interest is focused on Actinobacteria and Proteobacteria, groups that are recognized for their metabolic diversity and biotechnological relevance (Bruce et al, 2010;Melo-Nascimento et al, 2018).…”

“…Therefore, DNA-based methods represent an alternative to overcome cultivation problems. (Zhu et al, 2014;Vitorino and Bessa, 2018). Therefore DNA-based methods enable the screening of lignolitycal activity by searching for genes encoding key enzymes for lignin biotranformation.…”

“…In addition to cultivation and sequence-based methods, the increase in novel screening methodologies, such as the use of biological circuits to enable the identification of novel ligninolytic activities from environmental samples, is also overcoming the difficulties involved in cultivating some strains (Vitorino and Bessa, 2018).…”

Isolation and Characterization of Thermophilic Bacteria from Ikogosi Warm Spring, Ekiti State, Nigeria

“…The microbial world remains the largest unexplored biodiversity reservoir on Earth and has been a source of various species, products, and processes of biotechnological importance. 1 Microorganisms have evolved to exploit a wide range of energy sources and survive in virtually every habitat. 2 The potential for new microbial industrial applications is as diverse as the variety of environments in which they exist.…”

A review of nudibranch (Mollusca: Euthyneura) diversity from the Republic of Mauritius: status and future work

“…Cataloguing a list of species is also an element of biodiversity. Biodiversity itself describes the number and variety of living organism and can be defined in terms of species, genes and ecosystems (Vitorino & Bessa, 2018;Magurran, 2004)…”