 Introduction
The IEGM Collection is
part of the Alkanotrophic Microorganism Laboratory at the Institute of
Ecology and Genetics of Microorganisms, Perm Federal Research Center,
Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences. The establishment of
the present Collection originates from a concerted isolation of
alkanotrophic microorganisms which was initiated in 1975 to study the
potential use of this group of microorganisms as bioindicators of
oil-bearing substrata and environmental pollution.
In 1995 the
Regional Specialised Collection of Alkanotrophic Microorganisms was
registered with the WDCM (World Data Centre for Microorganisms) under
accession number 768.
The IEGM Collection has at present more
than 3000 pure cultures of non-pathogenic aerobic bacteria isolated
from subsurface core samples, stratal and surface waters, snow blanket,
air and soil samples from contrasting ecological and geographical
regions of the former Soviet Union. The bacteria belong to 30 genera
and 96 species, including the most represented Corynebacterium, Dietzia, Gordona, Kocuria, Micrococcus and Rhodococcus. Actinobacteria of the genus Rhodococcus
(Zopf 1891) Goodfellow and Alderson 1977 constitute the major part of
the IEGM Collection. The Collection includes cultures of
extremotolerant forms; strains which degrade a wide range of organic
pollutants and strains which produce amino acids, vitamins and
biosurfactants of potential commercial value.
Main study areas
for the IEGM Collection include: systematics, morphology, physiology,
biochemistry, genetics, bioinformatics, the role of actinobacteria in
ecosystems, the possibility of their practical use.Aims
- To isolate, study and maintain authentic
bacterial strains possessing high oxygenase activity of relevance for
microbiology, genetics and the development of new biotechnologies,
teaching and applied purposes, thus providing a
representation of microbial genetic resources for present and future
generations
- To provide continuous transfer of strains and
relevant information to users in accordance with National and
International regulations
- To consult users on the problems of isolation,
cultivation, taxonomy and preservation of hydrocarbon-oxidising
microorganisms, bioinformatics
- To provide services on identification of
strains using current methods of polyphase taxonomic analysis
- To accept for safe storage cultures of
organisms which use gaseous (ethane, propane and n-butane)
and liquid hydrocarbons as sole carbon sources
- To provide biological information on cultures
stored in the IEGM
Collection through regular updating of the catalogue and database
- To cooperate with National and International
microbial collections and particularly with the World Federation for
Culture Collections
- To carry out training courses on methods of
isolation, cultivation and identification of prokaryotic organisms
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