The growing importance of culture banks in life sciences

Microbial culture banks serve as collection centers for various microorganisms. Their function is to gather, culture, maintain, and distribute these organisms to society. These banks house multiple microorganisms, including bacteria, fungi, protozoa, archaea, viruses, bacteriophages, and genetic materials like nucleic acids and plasmids. These microbial cultures are crucial for supplying necessary organisms in research, health sectors, academia, pharmaceuticals, quality control assays, and biotechnology, while also aiding in preserving environmental microbial diversity.

Image Credit: ART-ur/Shutterstock.com

Introduction

Microorganisms are present in nearly every ecological niche on Earth. They are the most ubiquitous life forms we encounter. Microorganisms are essential in various fields such as microbiology, biotechnology, biochemistry, and molecular biology, acting as vital model organisms for research. Preserving these useful microorganisms is crucial to maintain their phenotypic characteristics and ensure they remain pure and viable over generations. This task is challenging for individual institutions, which is why culture banks exist as global repositories for these valuable microorganisms.

Microbial culture collections worldwide

The first culture collection was established by Prof. Frantisek Král in 1890 at the German University of Prague. Currently, 834 culture collections across 78 countries are registered with the World Data Centre for Microorganisms (WDCM). The Global Catalogue of Microorganisms (GCM) provides information on over 530,658 strains. Culture banks have preserved millions of microorganisms over the years.

The World Federation for Culture Collections (WFCC) has developed guidelines to support the establishment, operation, and long-term sustainability of microbiological resource centers, which are essential for scientific infrastructure.

Services offered by culture banks

Culture banks provide several services, including:

• Culture supply: They isolate, preserve, and distribute microbial cultures to institutions and organizations.
• Culture deposit: Researchers can deposit their culture lines for future reproducibility, with culture collections offering confidential storage for key microorganisms referenced in scientific studies.
• Culture identification: They provide identification and characterization services for microorganisms based on specific requirements.
• Genomic services: Culture banks maintain collections of nucleic acids and plasmids.
• Customized services: They offer tailored services such as nucleic acid extraction, cloning, and sequencing data as needed by researchers.

Some culture collections are recognized by the International Depositary Authority (IDA) for the deposition of patent cultures, managing the collection, preservation, and distribution of these specialized cultures.

Significance of culture banks

Microbial culture banks are crucial for scientific breakthroughs. They grant researchers access to diverse microbial strains, facilitating studies on microbial physiology, genetics, and interactions. These banks are instrumental in developing new therapeutics, vaccines, and biotechnological innovations, playing a vital role in combating emerging infectious diseases and antimicrobial resistance.

Culture banks also promote advancements in industrial applications. They are invaluable for bioprospecting, supplying microorganisms with unique metabolic capabilities for producing enzymes, biofuels, pharmaceuticals, and other bioproducts. By leveraging the microbial diversity stored in these banks, industries can enhance processes, minimize environmental impacts, and encourage sustainable development.

Moreover, culture banks significantly contribute to environmental conservation by preserving endangered or rare microbial species, thus protecting biodiversity and preventing extinction. They also assist in restoring degraded ecosystems by providing microbial inoculants for soil remediation and bioremediation projects.

American Type Culture Collection (ATCC)

The American Type Culture Collection is a private, nonprofit organization focused on acquiring, preserving, authenticating, and distributing diverse biological materials.

Recognized as a leader in banking and storage, ATCC houses one of the largest general service culture collections globally, with over 85,000 authenticated cultures. Their collections include BSL-3 type cultures.

ATCC maintains rigorous standards for authentication and documentation, ensuring the viability and characteristics of the materials in their care. Cultures are preserved and distributed in frozen or freeze-dried formats worldwide.

ATCC also offers culture guides, resources, and webinars to support scientists in utilizing these cultures effectively. New culture variants are released monthly, underscoring ATCC's status as an exceptional collection center.

Microbial Type Culture Collection (MTCC)

The Microbial Type Culture Collection (IMTECH, Chandigarh) is India's premier culture collection center. Recognized by IDAs and registered with WDCM, MTCC boasts a rich collection of around 12,000 microbial strains. They offer services such as culture supply, identification, and culture deposit. MTCC scientists have described around 100 novel taxa of bacteria, actinomycetes, and yeasts. Cultures are preserved in three forms: at -80 °C, in liquid nitrogen, and in lyophilized formats. MTCC provides free services for depositing microbial cultures.

ARS Culture Collection (NRRL)

The Agricultural Research Service (ARS) Culture Collection is among the world's largest public collections of microorganisms, housing approximately 98,000 isolates of bacteria and fungi.

ARS scientists conduct and facilitate microbiological research that enhances agricultural production, food safety, public health, and economic development.

Source: Himedia Laboratories Private Limited

Conclusion

Microbial culture banks play a multifaceted role in advancing scientific knowledge, fostering industrial innovation, and promoting environmental sustainability.

Their importance lies in their ability to preserve microbial diversity, facilitate research, and support applications across various sectors. As we navigate modern challenges, microbial culture banks emerge as essential custodians of microbial wealth, driving progress and prosperity in numerous fields. Their scope has expanded significantly to include genomics, rapid diagnostics, and data banks.

References

1. World Data Centre for Microorganisms. (2025). World Data Centre for Microorganisms. (online) Available at: https://www.wdcm.org/ (Accessed 9 Jun. 2025).
2. WFCC. (2017). World Federation for Culture Collections. (online) Available at: https://www.wfcc.info/guideline (Accessed 9 Jun. 2025).
3. ATCC (2019). ATCC: The Global Bioresource Center. (online) ATCC. Available at: https://www.atcc.org/.
4. MTCC. (2023). Home. (online) Available at: https://mtccindia.res.in/.
5. Culture Collections. Home. (online) Available at: https://www.culturecollections.org.uk/.
6. K. Çaktü and E.A. Türkoǧlu (2011). Microbial culture collections: The essential resources for life. Gazi University Journal of Science, (online) 24(2), pp.175–180. Available at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/288157416_Microbial_culture_collections_The_essential_resources_for_life.

About Himedia Laboratories Private Limited

With a presence in more than 150 countries, HiMedia is amongst the top three brands in the Bioscience Industry.

HiMedia Laboratories Private Limited is world renowned for manufacturing high quality culture media for microbiology. Additionally, we provide advanced media and products in the fields of Molecular Biology, Cell Biology, Plant Tissue Culture, Chemicals and Lab Aids/Equipment. As a Top Tier Global player, we are not only dedicated towards products but also striven towards introducing technologies such as Genomics Sequencing Services and Hydroponics.

HiMedia has managed to do this over decades as we have our own in-house bulk raw materials manufacturing plant. This enables us to deliver consistent quality products that conform to ISO 9001:2015 and ISO 13485:2012 and WHO: GMP.

HiMedia Labs. caters to one of the broadest Biosciences product categories: our premier established line of Microbiology products and newer promising products in Molecular Biology, Automated and Molecular Instruments, Cell Biology, Chemicals, and Premium Grade Lab Consumables, amongst others. The COVID-19 pandemic revolutionized not the clinical industry’s thought process regarding the significance of Molecular Diagnostics products.

The ‘Molecular Biology and Virology Division’ of HiMedia Laboratories Pvt. Ltd. Also called as HiGenoMB^® is a One Stop Solution Provider churning out potential Research and Industry oriented Molecular biology products for the past glorious decade. About 2000 different products such as Nucleic Acid Extraction and Amplification (PCR) Kits, Cloning Reagents, Buffers & Chemicals for proteomics studies, Automated Molecular Instrumentation including RT PCR machines and PCR thermal cyclers and DNA/RNA Extraction platforms are being produced. The Proficient researchers in this department are spear heading the challenging field of Molecular Diagnostics to provide a complete solution for clinical diagnosis, agriculture, veterinary sciences, food industry, drug discovery and forensic medicine with the use of Real Time PCR or quantitative PCR kits and thermal cyclers. Our Molecular Biology Division-has established an in-house Advanced Sequencing and Bioinformatics facility which marks HiMedia’s entry into the Services space.

Our Cell Biology segment contributes with technologies which have brought in Serum free media for biopharma applications, Viral Vaccine Production Platform, Multicompendial grade chemicals, cultivated meat, and 3D bioprinting.

Moving from conventional to advanced automated methods like MALDI-TOF (Autof MS 1000) has been our newest endeavour for Microbiology.

Sponsored Content Policy: News-Medical.net publishes articles and related content that may be derived from sources where we have existing commercial relationships, provided such content adds value to the core editorial ethos of News-Medical.Net which is to educate and inform site visitors interested in medical research, science, medical devices and treatments.