Recent additions to the UK’s National Collection of Industrial, Food and Marine Bacteria include three moderate halophiles and a strain with potential as a biocontrol agent. The NCIMB culture collection is the UK’s largest collection of industrially useful and environmentally important bacteria, plasmids and bacteriophages. It includes thousands of ACDP Hazard Group 1 and 2 strains, most of which can be dispatched within one working day of order. The collection is continually growing as a result of new deposits from the global research community.

Moderate halophiles NCIMB 15224 Aquisalibacillus elongatus, NCIMB 15225 Salinicoccus sesuvii and NCIMB 15226 Halomonas aquamarina, were all isolated from saline soil of the Khewra salt mine in Pakistan.  Salt mines are a popular destination for microbiologists with an interest in industrial biotechnology, as halophiles have recently been the focus of interest as a low-cost platform for bioprocessing.

NCIMB 15235 Serratia inhibens was isolated from a potato rhizosphere.  A draft genome sequence has been published in Microbiology Resource Announcements. The authors state that the application of rhizosphere biocontrol bacteria to control plant-pathogenic fungi is an alternative approach to the use of chemical agents and that the genomic data provide insight into the genetics underpinning the activity of this strain.

NCIMB Ltd. manages the National Collection of Industrial, Food and Marine Bacteria, and provides a range of microbiology and analytical services, including microbial identification, next-generation sequencing, and off-site storage, to customers around the world. For more information about purchasing any of our products and services contact enquiries@ncimb.com or visit our website www.ncimb.com.