Eugene Rosenberg, Professor of Microbiology at Tel Aviv University, Israel Edward F. DeLong, Professor at Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering & Department of Biological Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA Stephen Lory, Professor at Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA Erko Stackebrandt, German Collection of Microorganisms and Cell Cultures GmbH, DSMZ, Braunschweig, Germany Fabiano Thompson, Professor at Center of Health Sciences, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil