2 results
1 - Resource centres
- Edited by L. R. Hill, B. E. Kirsop
-
- Book:
- Bacteria
- Published online:
- 04 August 2010
- Print publication:
- 25 January 1991, pp 1-21
-
- Chapter
- Export citation
-
Summary
Nature of the resource
Living and authenticated cultures of bacteria are essential in virtually all practical applications of bacteriology, whether for routine work or for research. Such cultures are needed as controls, sources of special products, indicators of particular reactions or interactions; as representatives of their kind, or species (important for comparative identifications); as standards. Far from detracting from these ‘classical’ needs, the advent of the biotechnology of today has simply added more user needs, often, however, with a demand for greater amounts of information about the cultures.
There are three principal elements that convert a culture, or collection of cultures, into a ‘resource’. First is the culture itself, successfully preserved in a viable state. If viability cannot be maintained, either technically or simply through default, then only the information that may have been published is a resource: to exploit this limited resource a new isolate has to be obtained. Second is the information recorded about the culture. This includes such documentation as the history of the culture, original source, and also a record of the properties of the culture. The information may be little or exhaustive, but the preservation of cultures without information means they form a substantially less useful resource. Third is the availability of the culture, to enable its further application. However well preserved and well documented, a culture cannot be regarded as a ‘resource’ if it is not available: at best, it is a resource solely for its owner. Availability may, of course, be subject to restrictions or conditions; for example, hazardous bacteria (see Chapter 4) or patent strains (see Chapter 6) may not be universally available.
3 - Administration and safety
- Edited by L. R. Hill, B. E. Kirsop
-
- Book:
- Bacteria
- Published online:
- 04 August 2010
- Print publication:
- 25 January 1991, pp 49-61
-
- Chapter
- Export citation
-
Summary
Administration
Supply of cultures
The aim of service culture collections is to supply authenticated cultures to bona fide scientists, on request, promptly and without restriction on their ultimate use. The supply of certain bacteria such as pathogens (plant, animal or human) or patent strains will, however, be subject to statutory regulations and collections may impose further conditions. These may include, for example, proof that the requesting scientist holds the appropriate licence or permit to work with the cultures requested; that the request or order for cultures bears an authorised signature; and that an appropriate import licence is held. Supply of cultures to and from different countries, if pathogenic to man or animals, is subject to the International Air Transport Association (IATA) regulations whether sent by post or by air-freight. While the culture collection will effect the despatch of cultures as quickly as possible, delay can occur if those requesting the cultures are unaware of, or attempt to ignore, regulations. The collections, however, can only operate within the regulations.
Location of strains
The primary information about cultures available from a particular collection will be found in its printed catalogue. These, however, are not published as frequently as, say, catalogues of commercial suppliers of chemicals or equipment and so are never fully up-to-date. Many catalogues are now held on computers, and this enables quick and continual up-date by the collection and, in some cases, can be made available on-line (see Chapter 2).