海洋科学: 研究開発

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Prokaryotic Biodiversity in Marine versus Terrestrial Ecosystems: Methylobacteria and Research Ethics

U. Kutschera and S. Schauer

Prokaryotic microbes (bacteria) are the most numerous organisms on Earth. In marine environments, cyanobacteria of the genus Prochlorococcus and heterotrophic prokaryotes of the family Pelagibacteraceae are of importance, and in terrestrial ecosystems, plant-associated methylobacteria are very abundant. Here, we summarize the discovery and description of a microbe isolated from the common cord moss, Methylobacterium funariae, as described by Schauer and Kutschera (2011). Based on samples of M. Funariae which was provided to the colleagues as a gift, our isolate was described without our knowledge and permission for a second time, under another name. We discuss this wasteful and duplicative publication of data generated twice from the same bacterial isolate with respect to the ethics for the conduct of research in the biological sciences.