A large collection of pure cultures of cyanobacterial strains
Despite the fact that microorganisms constitute the majority of species on the entire global biodiversity system, little is known about them. Unlike other organisms knowledge of the morphology or biochemistry of microorganisms is either restricted or unclear. Unless such information is combined with suitable molecular data such as gene sequences, detailed microbial biodiversity studies will be difficult to implement. Urged by this, the MIDI-CHIP project focused on a specific type of microorganism, the cyanobacteria or alternatively blue-green algae, which is abundantly found in freshwater lakes or basins. Due to their photosynthetic capabilities, cyanobacteria constitute one of the basic elements of the food chain, though they may generate highly toxic compounds in bloom formations under special conditions Researchers were able to collect a large number of distinguishing members of this ecologically valuable community from different European lakes. After two years of sampling and with the aid of several methods employing various enrichment and isolation media, hundreds of cyanobacterial strains were derived. This collection of strains obtained in laboratory cultures is substantially representative of the cyanobacterial diversity in nature. The valuable set of strains may found useful applications in studies on the taxonomy and biodiversity of freshwater cyanobacteria. In addition, they may be further used for cyanobacterial characterisation in cyanotoxins' analyses. Most importantly, they may form the basis for the production of gene sequences to be further employed in micro-arrays. They may also be used in other molecular methods, such as primer design and testing for (real time) PCR for monitoring water quality.
