When it comes to the discovery and analysis of yet uncharted bacterial traits, pure cultures are essential as only these allow detailed morphological and physiological characterization as well as genetic manipulation. However, microbiologists are struggling to isolate and maintain the majority of bacterial strains, as mimicking their native environmental niches adequately can be a challenging task. Here, we report the diversity-driven cultivation, characterization and genome sequencing of 79 bacterial strains from all major taxonomic clades of the conspicuous bacterial phylum Planctomycetes. The samples were derived from different aquatic environments but close relatives could be isolated from geographically distinct regions and structurally diverse habitats, implying that 'everything is everywhere'. With the discovery of lateral budding in 'Kolteria novifilia' and the capability of the members of the Saltatorellus clade to divide by binary fission as well as budding, we identified previously unknown modes of bacterial cell division. Alongside unobserved aspects of cell signalling and small-molecule production, our findings demonstrate that exploration beyond the well-established model organisms has the potential to increase our knowledge of bacterial diversity. We illustrate how 'microbial dark matter' can be accessed by cultivation techniques, expanding the organismic background for small-molecule research and drug-target detection.

中文翻译：

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79 种浮游菌的培养和功能表征揭示了它们独特的生物学特性。

在发现和分析尚未确定的细菌特征时，纯培养是必不可少的，因为只有这些才能进行详细的形态学和生理学表征以及遗传操作。然而，微生物学家正在努力分离和维持大多数细菌菌株，因为充分模仿它们的原生环境生态位可能是一项具有挑战性的任务。在这里，我们报告了来自显着细菌门浮游菌的所有主要分类进化枝的 79 种细菌菌株的多样性驱动培养、表征和基因组测序。样本来自不同的水生环境，但近亲可以从地理上不同的区域和结构多样化的栖息地中分离出来，这意味着“一切无处不在”。随着在 'Kolteria novifilia' 中发现侧芽以及 Saltatorellus 进化枝成员通过二元裂变和出芽进行分裂的能力，我们确定了以前未知的细菌细胞分裂模式。除了细胞信号传导和小分子产生的未观察到的方面，我们的研究结果表明，对完善的模式生物的探索有可能增加我们对细菌多样性的了解。我们说明了如何通过培养技术获得“微生物暗物质”，从而扩展了小分子研究和药物靶点检测的有机背景。我们确定了以前未知的细菌细胞分裂模式。除了细胞信号传导和小分子产生的未观察到的方面，我们的研究结果表明，对完善的模式生物的探索有可能增加我们对细菌多样性的了解。我们说明了如何通过培养技术获得“微生物暗物质”，从而扩展了小分子研究和药物靶点检测的有机背景。我们确定了以前未知的细菌细胞分裂模式。除了细胞信号传导和小分子产生的未观察到的方面，我们的研究结果表明，对完善的模式生物的探索有可能增加我们对细菌多样性的了解。我们说明了如何通过培养技术获得“微生物暗物质”，从而扩展了小分子研究和药物靶点检测的有机背景。