Actinomycete Culture Collection: A Brief Outline

Abstract

The history of culture collections of actinomycetes is briefly surveyed. Some subcollections that should be undertaken by actinomycete culture collections are also proposed.
The first catalogue published in 1900 by Král Bacteriological Laboratory, Prague, contained actinomycete strains. This was the first actinomycete culture collection in the world, but microbiologists no longer have this treasure. Actinomycetes are a very important natural resource, yet there is no organisation currently devoted entirely to the collection and maintenance of actinomycete strains.
The KCC culture collection was established by the author in 1955 and incorporated into the Japan Collection of Microorganisms (JCM), RIKEN, in 1983 so that KCC cultures could acquire their longevity. As one of the established culture collections, the KCC Culture Collection published their own list of strains and contributed to several other culture collections allowing them to expand.