Vacuum-drying and cryopreservation of prokaryotes

Area of Science:

• Microbiology
• Molecular Biology

Background:

• Ex situ study of prokaryotes (Archaea and Bacteria) traditionally relies on maintaining living cultures.
• Serial transfer is insufficient for long-term storage or managing extensive microbial collections.
• Cultivating the vast diversity of prokaryotes presents significant challenges in media formulation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To outline general principles for cultivating and preserving diverse prokaryotes in pure culture.
• To describe reliable methodologies for the long-term storage of prokaryotic strains.
• To present methods utilized by major culture collections like DSMZ.

Main Methods:

• General cultivation principles applicable to most known prokaryotes.
• Long-term storage methodologies including freezing techniques.
• Long-term storage methodologies including vacuum-drying techniques.

Main Results:

• General cultivation principles are provided to address the diversity of prokaryotes.
• Two primary categories of long-term storage methods are detailed: freezing and vacuum-drying.
• The described methods are validated by their use in established national culture collections.

Conclusions:

• Effective long-term storage of prokaryotes is achievable through freezing or vacuum-drying.
• These methods support the preservation of large and diverse microbial collections for research.
• Standardized protocols from culture collections ensure reliable prokaryotic strain preservation.