Methods for universal target capture

1. A method of isolating a microorganism in a sample, the method comprising:

obtaining a sample suspected of containing at least one microorganism;

introducing to the sample a virus that causes the microorganism to present a surface element;

exposing the sample to a capture moiety that binds the surface element presented on the microorganism, thereby forming a capture moiety/microorganism complex; and

isolating the capture moiety/microorganism complex from the sample.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein said sample comprises two or more microorganisms and the virus causes both microorganisms to present the same surface element.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the virus is a bacteriophage.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the surface element is a cell surface protein.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the capture moiety is an antibody.

6. The method of claim 3 , wherein said bacteriophage contains a biotinylation domain.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the capture moiety comprises streptavidin.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the microorganism is a bacteria.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the microorganism is a fungus.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the microorganism is present in the sample at as low as 1 CFU/mL.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the capture moiety is bound to a magnetic particle.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein said isolating step comprises applying a magnetic field.