Strategies for culture of ‘unculturable’ bacteria

Molecular ecology methods are now well established for the culture-independent characterization of complex bacterial communities associated with various environmental and animal habitats and are revealing the extent of their diversity. By comparison, it has become clear that only a small minority of microorganisms are readily cultivated in vitro, with the majority of all bacteria remaining 'unculturable' using standard methods. Yet, it is only through the isolation of bacterial species in pure culture that they may be fully characterized, both for their physiological and pathological properties. Hence, the endeavour to devise novel cultivation methods for microorganisms that appear to be inherently resistant…