Microbial diversity and the role of culture collections
1997
Komagata, K. (Tokyo Univ., Tokyo (Japan). Faculty of Agriculture. Dept. of Agricultural Chemistry)
From a global point of view, tropical rain forests occupy only 3 percent of the surface of the earth, but more than 50 percent of the biological species inhabit such areas. The development of modern biotechnology aspires to isolation of new microorganisms and improvement of their attributes, but microorganisms have been overlooked compared with plants and animals because of their microscopic life forms. Currently, more than 69,000 species in 5,100 genera of fungi, and about 3,600 species in about 700 genera of bacteria have been described in the literature. However, it is surprising to learn how small the number of microbial taxa appears in references to the application of microorganisms. Astronomical numbers of microbial strains have been isolated through the study of microbial diversity, and the attributes of a large number of strains have been improved for biotechnology. Microorganisms are not only of value for the production of useful substances; they also play unique roles in element cycles with plants and animals. Microbial strains isolated from large numbers of sources of South East Asia have been deposited with culture collections, and enriched the culture collections. Microorganisms are also significant gene pools, and these gene pools must not be lost. From this point of view, microorganisms can be regarded as the cultural heritage and the cultural property, and they must be transferred to the next generation in a normal and healthy condition. Therefore, reliable culture collections are needed as the depository and for the further study and application of the cultures.
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