Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • News & Views
  • Published:

Microbial ecology: Seeing growth without culture

Protein-synthesizing bacterial and archaeal cells can now be visualized by an adaptation of the BONCAT method, and sorted from complex samples for sequencing. A demonstration on the uncultivated, slow-growing methane-oxidizing consortia shows the high potential of this new method.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

Purchase on Springer Link

Instant access to full article PDF

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1: Concept for the visualization, identification and sorting of BONCAT-labelled cells.

References

  1. Hatzenpichler, R. et al. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 113, E4069–E4078 (2016).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Dieterich, D. C., Link, A. J., Graumann, J., Tirrell, D. A. & Schuman, E. M. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 103, 9482–9487 (2006).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Samo, T. J., Smriga, S., Malfatti, F., Sherwood, B. P. & Azam, F. Front. Marine Sci.http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2014.00048 (2014).

  4. Hatzenpichler, R. et al. Environ. Microbiol. 16, 2568–2590 (2014).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Hatzenpichler, R. & Orphan, V. J. in Single-Cell and Single-Molecule Methods, Hydrocarbon and Lipid Microbiology Protocols Vol. 7 (ed. McGenity, T. J. ) 145–157 (Springer, 2015).

    Book  Google Scholar 

  6. Knittel, K. & Boetius, A. Annu. Rev. Microbiol. 63, 311–334 (2009).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Hatzenpichler, R. & Orphan, V. J. Detection of protein-synthesizing microorganisms in the environment via bioorthogonal non-canonical amino acid tagging (BONCAT) protocols.iohttp://go.nature.com/2b8lwxz (24 July 2016).

  8. Berry, D. et al. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 112, E194–E203 (2015).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Dekas, A. E., Poretsky, R. S. & Orphan, V. J. Science 326, 422–426 (2009)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Milucka, J. et al. Nature 491, 541–546 (2012).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Dyksma, S. et al. ISME J. 10, 1939–1953 (2016)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Antje Boetius.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Boetius, A. Microbial ecology: Seeing growth without culture. Nat Microbiol 1, 16158 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1038/nmicrobiol.2016.158

Download citation

  • Published:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nmicrobiol.2016.158

Search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing