The tree of life is dominated by microbes, but many large branches remain uncharted because scientists have been historically restricted to studying the small fraction of species that will grow in a lab. An international team of scientists has now begun to redress this bias, sequencing full genomes from single cells to bring the “uncultured majority” into view.
In total, the team identified more than 200 new microbial species belonging to 29 underrepresented or unknown lineages. And the results, published July 14th in Nature, were full of new metabolic abilities and genetic surprises.
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Read the full article here: Microbial Diversity
