Contents -- Contributors -- Preface -- I. INTRODUCTION -- 1. Does Cultivation Still Matter? -- 2. The Human Intestinal Microbiota and Its Impact on Health -- II. THE STATUS QUO:WHO IS OUT THERE? HOW TO DETERMINE MICROBIAL DIVERSITY -- 3. The Uncountables -- 4. The Missing Fungi: New Insights from Culture-Independent Molecular Studies of Soil -- 5. The Diversity of Free-Living Protists Seen and Unseen, Cultured and Uncultured -- 6. Microbial Biogeography: Patterns in Microbial Diversity across Space and Time -- 7. The Least Common Denominator: Species or Operational Taxonomic Units? -- 8. Measuring Diversity -- 9. Metagenomics as a Tool To Study Biodiversity -- III. ARE MICROORGANISMS NONCULTURABLE OR NOT YET CULTURABLE? -- 10. New Cultivation Strategies for Terrestrial Microorganisms -- 11. Cultivation of Marine Symbiotic Microorganisms -- 12. Methods To Study Consortia and Mixed Cultures -- IV. DO WE HAVE TO CHANGE GEAR? NEW CULTIVATION APPROACHES AND NEW MOLECULAR APPROACHES COMBINED -- 13. Microbial Cell Individuality -- 14. Nanomechanical Methods To Study Single Cells -- 15. Single-Cell Genomics -- 16. How Many Genes Does a Cell Need? -- Index -- A -- B -- C -- D -- E -- F -- G -- H -- I -- K -- L -- M -- N -- O -- P -- R -- S -- T -- U -- V -- W -- X -- Y -- Z.