Ideally, in a microbial culture center, strains are isolated into culture, identified and characterized, maintained, improved, and disseminated. This ideal contrasts with the operation of many culture collections, in which strain isolation, identification, characterization, and improvement functions may be minimized, lessening the value of the collection and its products.Two examples from harmful algal bloom research (“green tide”-forming chlorophyte Ulva and the ciguatera-associated dinoflagellate Gambierdiscus) and one from marine parasitology (Neoparamoeba, a facultative amoebal pathogen of finfish and shellfish) will illustrate the potential of the culture center model. Another opportunity for culture centers comes from today’s sheer volume of microbial biodiversity research. Barcoding initiatives promise to “flood the market” with sequence data – much of which cannot now be coupled with a living organism.
Strategies for establishing a robust culture center include investment in labor-saving procedures for culture maintenance (especially cryopreservation) and the establishment of partnerships with researcher and user communities.
Presenter:
Dr. Charles J. O'Kelly
Senior Research Scientist
Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences
West Boothbay Harbor, Maine
Friday
March 30, 2007
11:00 a.m.
Pacific Ocean Science & Technology Building, POST 723
Refreshments will be served after the seminar in POST 121
The Pacific Research Center for Marine Biomedicine (PRCMB) is a newly established center at the University of Hawaii dedicated to trans-disciplinary research designed to gain new knowledge about the profound impacts of the ocean on human health. The Center is funded by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences.
BACK