Novel approaches for isolation and cultivation of microorganisms associated with marine animals

Abstract:

Marine animals are rich in microorganisms, which can help animal hosts synthesize some nutrients for the growth of hosts or compounds against other animals. Many compounds isolated from these microorganisms have good bioactivities and some are used in clinical treatment. Only few microorganisms were isolated from marine animals in the common conditions. Therefore, novel and efficient approaches are urgently required to promote the isolation and cultivation of uncultured microbes from marine animals. In this review, we provide an overview of the novel cultivation-based approaches while documenting their outcomes and limitations, including in situ method for cultivating microorganisms, electrical retrieval method and the refinement of culture media, and focusing on diffusion growth chambers, I-tip method, and micro-encapsulation approach, etc. These new approaches may lead to valuable advances in obtaining more new microbial strains and novel secondary metabolites, understanding the relationship between microorganisms and animal hosts, and making use of marine microbial resources.