Let microorganisms do the talking, let us talk more about microorganisms
Nai et al. Fungal Biol Biotechnol
Let microorganisms do the talking, let us talk more about microorganisms
Corrado Nai 0 2
Boris Magrini 1
Julia Offe 3
0 Department Applied and Molecular Microbiology, Institute of Biotechnology, Technical University of Berlin , Gustav-Meyer-Allee 25, 13355 Berlin , Germany
1 Zurich , Switzerland
2 Federation of the European Microbiological Societies (FEMS) , Delftechpark 37a, 2628 XJ Delft , The Netherlands
3 Hamburg , Germany
Microorganisms are of uttermost importance, yet in the eyes of the general public they are often associated with dirt and diseases. At the same time, microbiologists have access to and comprehensive knowledge of just a tiny minority of the microbial diversity existing in nature. In this commentary, we present these issues of public misconception and scientific limitations and their possible consequences, and propose ways to overcome them. A particular interest is directed toward the secondary metabolism of filamentous fungi as well as novel outreach activities, including socalled “science slams” and interactions between the arts and the sciences, to raise awareness about the relevance of microorganisms.
Microorganisms; Antibiotics crisis; Microbial secondary metabolism; Filamentous fungi; Co-cultivation assays; Science outreach; Science slams; “Art & science”
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You’ve got to respect microbes. Not because “they are
the only culture some people have,” as the comedian
Steven Wright puts it. Neither are we talking about a
reverential awe, fuelled by recurrent news of killer bugs
and pandemic threats. Yes, microbes can be dangerous
and can spread diseases easily around the globe. We are
occasionally unable to tame them, as recent outbreaks
of Ebola or Zika viruses [
1, 2
] as well as of devastating
plant pathogens testify [3]. And despite them being
considered the simplest life form on earth, we still don’t
know microbes as well as we need to. But in this lies also
the beauty of them: in many regards, microorganisms are
nature’s treasure trove awaiting to be opened.
The respect we are referring to is related to a
fascination for microbes. Studies on microorganisms paved the
way for crucial advances in major pillars of our
modern society as medicine, human welfare [
4–8
],
industry [
9–11
] and research [
12, 13
]. Some environmental
species can break down or assimilate toxic compounds
or pollutants and are useful in bioremediation [
14, 15
].
Microorganisms like Escherichia coli, Saccharomyces
cerevisiae and Neurospora crassa have been the workhorses
of molecular biology and playgrounds for scientific and
technological breakthroughs [
13, 16, 17
]; recent
discoveries on the “immune system” of streptococci [
18
] are
currently used as CRISPR/Cas technology to edit genomes
across all domains of life, including human zygotes [
19
]
and embryos [
20
], and fuelling an ongoing scientific
revolution [
21, 22
]. And yet, if at the basis of respect lies
understanding, there are still lacunae to overcome—as
much for the general public as for biologists or scientists
themselves.
Microbiologists: the hipsters among scientists
Scientists know and have access to only an estimated 1 %
of microbial diversity, as predicted by molecular methods
and metagenomics analyses [
23
]; the rest is referred to as
the “microbial dark matter” [
24–26
]. The main reason is
the somehow limited palette of methods at
microbiologists’ hand. Since Robert Koch first grew microbial
colonies on a potato slice in the late nineteenth century—and
soon after on gelatinous, homogeneous media in dishes
named after his assistant Julius Petri (Fig. 1)—[
27
] not
much has really changed. Microbiologists still aim for
pure cultures of microbes on solid or in liquid media as
first step to further analyses, nolens volens. They grew
microbes before it was cool, and do it today (almost)
exactly alike.
These culture-dependent methods are microbiology’s
double-edged sword. When they succeed in growing a
new strain and in studying it in the laboratory,
microbiologists alienate it from its natural habitat: in nature,
microbes are highly promiscuous and most likely never
grow axenically and in homogeneous substrata. To give
a rough idea, a gram of soil harbours an estimate of 109
microbial cells and 1000 different species [
28, 29
]. The
microbial diversity on us (e.g. the skin) and within our
body (e.g. the gut) is similarly stunning: microorganisms
outnumber our own cells (by a factor of up to ten
according to some estimate [
30–32
]), so that humans are often
referred as “superorganisms”. The positive effect of the
human microbiome for the health of animals and plants
is increasingly acknowledged, even if still poorly
understood [
33–35
]. Similarly, the microbial community
context should no longer be overlooked when investigating
microbial pathogenesis, a goal that could be achieved by
revisiting the classical Koch’s postulates [36].
Overcoming microbiologists’ c (...truncated)