Principles of Formation of Collection Funds of Microorganism Strains

Abstract

The aim of the review was to consider the principles and criteria for the formation of funds of service microbiological collections and the specialized State collection of pathogenic bacteria (SCPB) at the RusRAPI “Microbe”. The rapid pace of characterization, study, and use of microbial diversity makes the development of criteria for the selection of microorganisms for permanent storage in collections particularly relevant. The number and format of these criteria are determined by the tasks the collection centers of different levels and specialization are facing. Service collections form their funds by depositing or acquiring type, reference, educational strains. In recent years, the practicability of expanding the range of strains, the deposition of which is desirable in service collections, has been recognized. These are strains characterized by phylogenetic, genomic, metabolic, ecological uniqueness; with a fully sequenced genome; known and emerging plant, animal and human pathogens that caused disease outbreaks; used in international research projects; having biotechnological and economic significance. The main task of the SCPB as a specialized state collection of pathogenic bacteria of groups I–II is to preserve strains characterizing the intraspecific diversity and populations of pathogens circulating in natural foci or in certain territories of the Russian Federation, isolated during epizootics, local or epidemic outbreaks. The selection criteria for strains for permanent storage are their ecological, phenotypic, and genetic peculiarities. The preservation of such a collection is important for future research using new technologies and tracking the evolution of pathogenic bacteria – causative agents of particularly dangerous infectious diseases.