The actinomycetes are well known as a group of filamentous, Gram-posit
ive bacteria that produce many useful secondary metabolites, including
antibiotics and enzymes. Although they have been intensively studied
for both theoretical and practical objectives, there is much scope for
developing our basic knowledge of the means of detection and isolatio
n of these microbes. This session concentrated on new methods for the
detection and identification of novel actinomycetes from a range of en
vironments. Approaches to the detection of actinomycetes ranged from i
nvestigations of neglected habitats and extreme environments (e.g. alk
aline soils and oil drills) to the analysis of DNA extracted from the
environment and use of specific phages. The continuing problems of the
identification of actinomycete isolates were also considered. Topics
discussed included use of phage typing, DNA probes, and correlation be
tween phenetic and genotypic species of Streptomyces.