<strong>CTC</strong>

Collection content

Microbial group/s​: Bacteria
Total number of strains​: ~900
Taxa (number of strains)​:
-Lactobacillus (>500)
L. sakei
L. curvatus
L. plantarum
L. gasseri
L. casei
L. rhamnosus
L. salivarius
-Leuconostoc (10)
-Enterococcus (>100)
E. faecalis
E. faecium
E. durans
E. hirae
E. gallinarum
E. casseliflavus
E. malodoratus
E. devriesei
E. gilvus
-Staphylococcus (>200)
S. aureus
S. equorum
S. xylosus
S. warneri
S. carnosus
-Enterobacterias:
Escherichia coli (6)
Salmonella (25)
Yersinia enterocolitica (4)
-Others
Carnimonas nigrificans (7)
Pseudomonas (9)
Listeria monocytogenes (30)
Isolation source/Origin: Most from meat, meat products, manufacturing environment. Some of intestinal origin.
Preservation method​: -80°C (20% glycerol).
Information management​: Excel file. Strains are classified with CTC number.
Characterization level​:Identification at the level of genus, species, subsp./serotype in some, with information on date of isolation, origin. Characteristics of interest them (biochemical properties, virulence, antimicrobial metabolites ...) are known for some of them.

Services

Various strains of interest to the industry, under patent or exploitation license. R + D activities in collaboration with other national and international research groups, under transfer agreement or specific collaboration agreement. Other services on demand.

Expertise

Key words:
pathogens, lactic acid bacteria, antimicrobials, shelf life, emerging conservation technologies, molecular biology, predictive microbiology.
Summary:

The Food Safety Program develops, optimizes and validates analytical methods for the detection, quantification, characterization and molecular typing of microorganisms. It researches and transfers knowledge to the agri-food sector on the impact of various processing and preservation technologies on food quality, safety and shelf life, through durability studies, challenge tests and predictive microbiology.

Quality Certifications

IRTA has the ISO 9001 standard. The strain collection is not certified. The viability of the strains is not confirmed for all of them.

Brief historical review

Collection started in 1994 and has been increasing as a result of the achievement of research projects, contracts with companies and others. Special interest in strains of technological interest (starter cultures), bioprotector (antilisteria) and functional (probiotics). The current viability of many of the strains is unknown.