O'Donnell A G, Goodfellow M, Hawksworth D L
Department of Agricultural and Environmental Science, University of Newcastle, Newcastle upon Tyne, U.K.
Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci. 1994 Jul 29;345(1311):65-73. doi: 10.1098/rstb.1994.0087.
The quantification of biodiversity among microorganisms has to address both theoretical and practical aspects. Species concepts are often at variance with those applied in macroorganisms, and satisfactory concepts suitable for general use in bacteria and fungi have yet to be formulated. Molecular approaches have not yet provided a universal solution to this key issue. Quantification in habitats such as soil is difficult as isolation procedures yield only a small and skewed selection of the microorganisms present. Indices of taxonomic or phylogenetic diversity have potential in the quantification of microbial diversity at a range of ranks, but the non-equivalence of ranks and representatives of the taxa detected have to be addressed. Chemical and molecular methods have immense potential in the quantification of microbial diversity in environmental samples; 16S rRNA has shown particular promise with bacteria, but as yet the fungi lack a universal probe. A greater awareness of the limitations of existing approaches and methodologies used by microbiologists is needed, but significant progress can be anticipated as new technologies are developed and become more widely adopted.
微生物间生物多样性的量化必须兼顾理论与实践层面。物种概念往往与应用于宏观生物的概念不一致，且尚未形成适用于细菌和真菌通用的、令人满意的概念。分子方法尚未为这一关键问题提供通用解决方案。在土壤等生境中的量化工作颇具难度，因为分离程序仅能获取所存在微生物的一小部分且有偏差的样本。分类或系统发育多样性指数在量化不同等级的微生物多样性方面具有潜力，但必须解决所检测分类单元的等级和代表的非等效性问题。化学和分子方法在量化环境样本中的微生物多样性方面具有巨大潜力；16S rRNA已在细菌方面展现出特别的前景，但真菌目前仍缺乏通用探针。需要更加认识到微生物学家所使用的现有方法和技术的局限性，但随着新技术的开发和更广泛应用，可以预期会取得重大进展。
