TY  - JOUR
N1  - Copyright of this article belongs to National Academy of Sciences, Allahabad.
ID  - open919
UR  - http://crdd.osdd.net/open/919/
IS  - 7-8
A1  - Budhiraja, R
A1  - Basu, A
A1  - Jain, R K
Y1  - 2002///
N2  - Microorganisms occur nearly everywhere in nature and occupy an important place in human view of life. They exhibit an impressive diversity in their metabolic activities and interactions with other microbes, plants and animals. However, relatively little is known about the diversity of the microorganisms that constitute natural as well as artificial ecosystems and are potentially useful for biotechnology applications. Our knowledge of the microbial diversity has been severely limited by relying on organisms that have been cultured. Fewer than 10 percent of the extant microorganisms have been discovered and culture methods are inadequate for studying microbial community composition. Majority of naturally occurring microbes cannot be cultured using standard techniques. Speculation that more than 90 percent of the microbes remain undiscovered raise the question of how well we know the Earth's biota and its biochemical potential. Conceptual and methodological approaches for dealing with such diversity are now being developed. The application, of molecular phylogenetic methods to study natural microbial ecosystems without the traditional requirements for cultivation has resulted in the discovery of many evolutionary lineages and are opening vast areas of microbial world to exploration.
PB  - National Academy of Sciences, Allahabad
JF  - National Academy Science Letters
VL  - 25
SN  -  0250-541X 
TI  - Microbial diversity: Significance, conservation and application.
SP  - 189
AV  - none
EP  - 201
ER  -