Purpose: Brazil has one of the most developed poultry industries of the world and is an important swine producer/exporter. Therefore, it is essential to have a depository of reference strains for future research. The microbial collection (CMISEA) of Embrapa Swine and Poultry is recognized as a trusted depository, which can potentially store over 12,000 microorganisms. CMISEA’s main goal is to maintain pathogenically important microorganisms for the poultry/swine industries, serving as a reliable depository of properly preserved cultures.
Methods: Currently, the laboratory is equipped with liquid nitrogen tanks, ultrafreezers, freezers, refrigerators, cabinets designed for room temperature storage and a lyophilizer. All isolates are stored in sextuplicates in at least two different temperatures.
Results: Currently, 99% of the isolates deposited are bacteria and 1% are viruses. In addition, 86% were isolated from swine sources and 14% from poultry samples. The collection holds 491 different microorganisms within sixteen genera. The most representative is Pasteurella (26%), then Bordetella (23%) and Salmonella (18%). The laboratory has also a bacterial-viral library with more than 8,000 isolates and the most representatives are Salmonella (44%), Escherichia (16%), Infectious bronchitis virus (21%) and Suid herpesvirus-1 (20%).
Significance: The microorganisms deposited in the CMISEA are of importance for the poultry and swine industries, as well as for academia and research. It is strategic for the country to have a collection for future studies, such as, pathogen characterization and prevalence. Other applications are outbreak control, bioprospecting and genomic characterization.