Culturing the Uncultured: Risk versus Reward

ABSTRACT Isolation of new microorganisms is challenging, but cultures are invaluable resources for experimental validation of phenotype, ecology, and evolutionary processes. Although the number of new isolates continues to grow, the majority of cultivars still come from a limited number of phylogene...

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Autor principal:	J. Cameron Thrash
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	American Society for Microbiology 2019
Materias:	cost-benefit analysis cultivation environmental microbiology Microbiology QR1-502
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/29906f1fb83244adb7f061063fa5dff6
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:29906f1fb83244adb7f061063fa5dff62021-12-02T18:44:38ZCulturing the Uncultured: Risk versus Reward10.1128/mSystems.00130-192379-5077https://doaj.org/article/29906f1fb83244adb7f061063fa5dff62019-06-01T00:00:00Zhttps://journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/mSystems.00130-19https://doaj.org/toc/2379-5077ABSTRACT Isolation of new microorganisms is challenging, but cultures are invaluable resources for experimental validation of phenotype, ecology, and evolutionary processes. Although the number of new isolates continues to grow, the majority of cultivars still come from a limited number of phylogenetic groups and environments, necessitating investment in new cultivation efforts. While most microbiologists probably agree that axenic cultures have great value, we need to collectively put our money where our mouth is. I propose that we examine cultivation from the perspective of expected value to rationally incorporate risks and rewards of isolating new microbes. If we can even broadly constrain the cultivation probability and relative values of isolates, we can use this information to evaluate and improve experimental design. There are numerous scenarios for which isolation projects have positive expectations and therefore represent a sound investment.J. Cameron ThrashAmerican Society for Microbiologyarticlecost-benefit analysiscultivationenvironmental microbiologyMicrobiologyQR1-502ENmSystems, Vol 4, Iss 3 (2019)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	cost-benefit analysis cultivation environmental microbiology Microbiology QR1-502
spellingShingle	cost-benefit analysis cultivation environmental microbiology Microbiology QR1-502 J. Cameron Thrash Culturing the Uncultured: Risk versus Reward
description	ABSTRACT Isolation of new microorganisms is challenging, but cultures are invaluable resources for experimental validation of phenotype, ecology, and evolutionary processes. Although the number of new isolates continues to grow, the majority of cultivars still come from a limited number of phylogenetic groups and environments, necessitating investment in new cultivation efforts. While most microbiologists probably agree that axenic cultures have great value, we need to collectively put our money where our mouth is. I propose that we examine cultivation from the perspective of expected value to rationally incorporate risks and rewards of isolating new microbes. If we can even broadly constrain the cultivation probability and relative values of isolates, we can use this information to evaluate and improve experimental design. There are numerous scenarios for which isolation projects have positive expectations and therefore represent a sound investment.
format	article
author	J. Cameron Thrash
author_facet	J. Cameron Thrash
author_sort	J. Cameron Thrash
title	Culturing the Uncultured: Risk versus Reward
title_short	Culturing the Uncultured: Risk versus Reward
title_full	Culturing the Uncultured: Risk versus Reward
title_fullStr	Culturing the Uncultured: Risk versus Reward
title_full_unstemmed	Culturing the Uncultured: Risk versus Reward
title_sort	culturing the uncultured: risk versus reward
publisher	American Society for Microbiology
publishDate	2019
url	https://doaj.org/article/29906f1fb83244adb7f061063fa5dff6
work_keys_str_mv	AT jcameronthrash culturingtheunculturedriskversusreward
_version_	1718377670241157120

Culturing the Uncultured: Risk versus Reward

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