Methods for universal target capture

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

obtaining a sample suspected of containing two or more microorganisms;

introducing to the sample two or more viruses, each virus capable of causing a different microorganism to present a surface element;

exposing the sample to one or more capture moieties that bind the surface elements presented on the microorganisms, thereby forming capture moiety/microorganism complexes; and

isolating the capture moiety/microorganism complexes from the sample.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the two or more viruses cause the two or more microorganisms to display the same element.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the two or more viruses cause the two or more microorganisms to each display a different element.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein at least one of said two or more viruses is a bacteriophage.

5. The method of claim 2 , wherein the element is a cell surface protein.

6. The method of claim 3 , wherein the different elements comprise different cell surface proteins.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more capture moieties comprise one or more antibodies.

8. The method of claim 4 , wherein said bacteriophage contains a biotinylation domain.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the at least one of the one or more capture moieties comprises streptavidin.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the two or more microorganisms is a bacteria.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the two or more microorganisms is a fungus.

12. The method of claim 1 , wherein the two or more microorganisms are present in the sample at as low as 1 CFU/mL.

13. The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more capture moieties are bound to magnetic particles.

14. The method of claim 13 , wherein said isolating step comprises applying a magnetic field.