Environmental biotechnology offers several promising techniques for the rehabilitation of
polluted environments. The modern industrialized world presents novel challenges to the …

Bacterial culture was the first method used to describe the human microbiota, but this
method is considered outdated by many researchers. Metagenomics studies have since …

A recent paper by Martiny argues that “high proportions” of bacteria in diverse Earth
environments have been cultured. Here we reanalyze a portion of the data in that paper, and …

Antimicrobial resistance is a leading mortality factor worldwide. Here, we report the
discovery of clovibactin, an antibiotic isolated from uncultured soil bacteria. Clovibactin …

Across the tree of life, populations have evolved the capacity to contend with suboptimal
conditions by engaging in dormancy, whereby individuals enter a reversible state of reduced …

For decades, mankind has dominated the battle against bacteria, yet the tide is slowly
turning. Our antibacterial strategies are becoming less effective, allowing bacteria to get the …

The cultivation of bacteria is highly biased toward a few phylogenetic groups. Many of the
currently underexplored bacterial lineages likely have novel biosynthetic pathways and …

It is now well accepted that Vibrio cholerae, the causative agent of the water-borne disease
cholera, is acquired from environmental sources where it persists between outbreaks of the …

All bacterial populations harbor a small fraction of transiently antibiotic-tolerant cells called
persisters. These phenotypic variants compromise successful antibiotic treatment because …

Highlights•Most of microbial diversity on the planet remains unexplored.•Accessing this
diversity is critical for basic microbiology and pharmaceutical discovery.•Innovations in …