| Literature DB >> 17435792 |
James I Prosser1, Brendan J M Bohannan, Tom P Curtis, Richard J Ellis, Mary K Firestone, Rob P Freckleton, Jessica L Green, Laura E Green, Ken Killham, Jack J Lennon, A Mark Osborn, Martin Solan, Christopher J van der Gast, J Peter W Young.
Abstract
Microbial ecology is currently undergoing a revolution, with repercussions spreading throughout microbiology, ecology and ecosystem science. The rapid accumulation of molecular data is uncovering vast diversity, abundant uncultivated microbial groups and novel microbial functions. This accumulation of data requires the application of theory to provide organization, structure, mechanistic insight and, ultimately, predictive power that is of practical value, but the application of theory in microbial ecology is currently very limited. Here we argue that the full potential of the ongoing revolution will not be realized if research is not directed and driven by theory, and that the generality of established ecological theory must be tested using microbial systems.Mesh：
Year: 2007 PMID： 17435792 DOI： 10.1038/nrmicro1643
Source DB: PubMed Journal: Nat Rev Microbiol ISSN： 1740-1526 Impact factor: 60.633