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 vector to induce the expression of a surface element in the microorganism; and

binding the expressed surface element with a capture moiety specific to the expressed surface element to capture the microorganism.

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

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the vector is a viral vector.

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 1 , wherein the microorganism is a bacteria.

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

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

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

10. The method of claim 9 , further comprising isolating the captured microorganism from the sample by applying a magnetic field.