Microbial bioprospecting in marine environments

LOZADA, MARIANA; DIONISI, HEBE

Springer Handbook of Marine Biotechnology

Springer

Año: 2015; p. 307 - 326

During evolution, microorganisms have accumulated a remarkable physiological and functional heterogeneity as a result of their adaptation to various environmental selective pressures. Marine microorganisms have been evolving and diversifying during billions of years in contrast to those from terrestrial habitats, which possess a much shorter evolutionary history. In addition, the oceans harbor unique habitats that are mostly unexplored, placing them as exciting targets for bioprospecting new microbial capabilities. Over the last years, novel and more complex approaches for the screening of molecules and activities from marine microorganisms with biotechnological potential have been developed and successfully applied. In this chapter, we explore methodological approaches currently used for microbial bioprospecting, with emphasis in the marine environment. These include, among others, high-throughput and other advanced cultivation techniques aiming to recover a larger fraction of culturable microbes, as well as culture independent, omics and meta-omics approaches for mining the microbial metabolic potential.