Representing marine microbial biodiversity
Marine microbes are limited in terms of their poor culturability. Therefore, in order to better understand what conditions favour or hamper their growth, a comparative investigation of the microbial community richness and structure was conducted in two European sea locations. Extensive molecular tools and methodologies were used to understand what organisms exist in the seawater, what limits them from growing and how to develop proper methodologies to gather pure cultures. Micro-Mar, a database of sequences representative of the microbiota in these environments was created. It is a vast database showing the organisms that develop under combinations of nutrient regimes. Micro-Mar will be especially valuable in making rapid progress to describe marine microbial biodiversity. Its future aim is to evolve into a virtual and interactive book of marine microbiology. This would serve particularly useful for marine microbiologists by assisting with the integration of vast amounts of published information not yet fully incorporated into the mainstream of marine microbiology.
