Uncultivable microbes

Stevenson BS, SA Eichorst, JT Wertz, TM Schmidt, JA Breznak (2004) New strategies for cnltivation and detection of previonsly uncultivated microbes. Appl Environ Microbiol 70 4748-4755. 

Genomic studies disclosed that many of those uncultivable microbes contain the potential to produce new secondary metabolites and there are a variety of routes to access this pool of novel natural products. For example, the community DNA gene clusters can be isolated and the genetic information for secondary metabolism expressed in heterologous hosts.45 47 A more rewarding approach may be to focus on improved cultivation methods.40,48... 

The strong commitment of actinomycetes that devote 5-10% of their genetic capacity to secondary metabolism demonstrates why they are the unmatched leaders in the supply of novel antibiotics for over half a century. There is strong evidence that many hitherto undescribed actinomycetes taxa will be discovered among the uncultivable microbes. The successful laboratory cultivation of previously uncultured soil actinomycetes with a high degree of novelty demonstrates that even relatively simple isolation methods can still be extremely successful.40,48,50 51... 

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