Steele D B, Stowers M D
Department of Botany and Microbiology, Auburn University, Alabama 36849.
Annu Rev Microbiol. 1991;45:89-106. doi: 10.1146/annurev.mi.45.100191.000513.
The screening of microorganisms for the production of useful products continues to be an important aspect of biotechnology. Although advances in instrumentation, genetics, and microbial physiology are having an impact, screening programs are still primarily based on so-called classical techniques of enrichment and mutagenesis. One area that needs strengthening is the advancement of knowledge in microbial physiology. Recent surveys indicate that industry leaders see trained microbial physiologists as being the limiting factor in development of biotechnology in the coming decade. The largest impediment to development of new screening techniques is the ironic lack of programs specifically directed at developing new techniques. Too much emphasis is placed on using available techniques and relying on sheer labor and screening of vast numbers of organisms to produce novel products. In this respect, the Japanese are the exception and have proven that the establishment of new programs is worth the cost and effort. They are undoubtedly the world leaders in development of screening techniques and consequently the discovery of novel products. The isolation of microbes from novel and extreme environments holds tremendous promise in two areas. First, as Omura (46) and others (9, 48, 65) state, novel organisms will yield novel products. Second, such organisms serve as models for the understanding of structure and function that will facilitate the genetic manipulation of organisms and advance our ability to engineer novel enzymes. Hopefully such advances will enable genetic and protein engineering to have a greater impact on screening programs and techniques in the future. The earth holds a vast amount of varied and unique environments, from natural extremes such as high-altitude deserts and thermal springs, to manmade environments such as industrial-waste-treatment facilities, from which, with the appropriate methods and techniques, we may isolate and evaluate new potential products.
筛选用于生产有用产品的微生物仍然是生物技术的一个重要方面。尽管仪器、遗传学和微生物生理学方面的进展正在产生影响，但筛选计划仍然主要基于所谓的富集和诱变经典技术。需要加强的一个领域是微生物生理学知识的进步。最近的调查表明，行业领导者认为训练有素的微生物生理学家是未来十年生物技术发展的限制因素。开发新筛选技术的最大障碍是具有讽刺意味地缺乏专门针对开发新技术的计划。人们过于强调使用现有技术，以及依靠大量的人力和对大量生物体进行筛选来生产新产品。在这方面，日本人是个例外，他们已经证明设立新计划是值得付出成本和努力的。他们无疑是筛选技术开发以及因此也是新产品发现方面的世界领先者。从新颖和极端环境中分离微生物在两个领域有着巨大的前景。首先，正如大村（46）和其他人（9、48、65）所说，新的生物体将产生新的产品。其次，这类生物体可作为理解结构和功能的模型，这将有助于对生物体进行基因操作，并提高我们设计新型酶的能力。希望这样的进展将使基因工程和蛋白质工程在未来对筛选计划和技术产生更大的影响。地球上有大量多样且独特的环境，从诸如高海拔沙漠和温泉等自然极端环境，到诸如工业废水处理设施等人为环境，运用适当的方法和技术，我们可以从中分离并评估新的潜在产品。
