16S rRNA sequences reveal numerous uncultured microorganisms in a natural community

MICROBIOLOGISTS have been constrained in their efforts to describe the compositions of natural microbial communities using traditional methods. Few microorganisms have sufficiently distinctive morphology to be recognized by microscopy. Culture-dependent methods are biased, as a microorganism can be...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Nature (London) 1990-05, Vol.345 (6270), p.63-65
Main Authors: Ward, David M, Weller, Roland, Bateson, Mary M
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Base Sequence
Biological and medical sciences
Biota
Cell culture
Cellular biology
Cloning, Molecular
Communities
Community composition
Composition
Cyanobacteria - genetics
DNA - genetics
Escherichia coli - genetics
Eubacterium - genetics
Euryarchaeota - genetics
Fresh Water
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Genes. Genome
Genetics
Hot springs
Hot Temperature
Humanities and Social Sciences
letter
Microbial activity
Microorganisms
Molecular and cellular biology
Molecular genetics
Molecular Sequence Data
Morphology
multidisciplinary
National parks
Nucleic Acid Conformation
Nucleic Acid Hybridization
Phylogenetics
Phylogeny
Physiology
RNA, Bacterial - genetics
RNA, Ribosomal - genetics
RNA, Ribosomal, 16S - genetics
rRNA 16S
Science
Science (multidisciplinary)
Sequence Homology, Nucleic Acid
Space life sciences
Water
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Summary:MICROBIOLOGISTS have been constrained in their efforts to describe the compositions of natural microbial communities using traditional methods. Few microorganisms have sufficiently distinctive morphology to be recognized by microscopy. Culture-dependent methods are biased, as a microorganism can be cultivated only after its physiological niche is perceived and duplicated experimentally. It is therefore widely believed that fewer than 20% of the extant microorganisms have been discovered 1,2 , and that culture methods are inadequate for studying microbial community composition 3–7 . In view of the physiological and phylogenetic diversity among microorganisms 8 , speculation that 80% or more of microbes remain undiscovered raises the question of how well we know the Earth's biota and its biochemical potential. We have performed a culture-independent analysis of the composition of a well-studied hot spring microbial community, using a common but distinctive cellular component, 16S ri bosom al RNA. Our results confirm speculations about the diversity of uncultured microorganisms it contains.
ISSN:0028-0836
1476-4687
DOI:10.1038/345063a0