Culture Collection

The National Collection of Industrial, Food and Marine Bacteria is part of the UK's Biological Resource Network. It is a fantastic collection that includes thousands of ACDP category 1 & 2 organisms.

The culture collection includes:

Bacteria, plasmids and bacteriophage
Marine & food strains
Freshwater & soil strains, as well as strains from an amazing diversity of other sources.

It is continuously expanding as a result of new accessions from the international research community. We follow international conventions and work to ISO 9001:2015 standards to ensure our culture collection provides a high quality resource today, and for future generations of scientists.

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Why order strains from NCIMB?

Quick dispatch: we dispatch most orders for freeze-dried cultures within one working day of receipt.

Diverse collection: The National Collection of Industrial, Food and Marine Bacteria includes much more than you might expect from its name! Download the A-Z of NCIMB to learn more.

Great communication and customer service: Feedback consistently tells us that our customers highly value the levels of customer service and communication we provide for both UK and international customers.

Terms of supply: Our standard terms of supply, set out in our Material Transfer Agreement, are for non-commercial uses such as research, teaching and quality control. However our culture collection is a fantastic genetic resource for industry and we are always happy to discuss commercial licensing. Terms are agreed on a case by case basis. Get in touch to find out more.

How our strains are supplied

Bacteria: Most of our strains are supplied freeze-dried in sealed glass ampoules, but they can also be supplied as an active culture if required. Prices for each format are given here.

Bacteriophages and plasmids are supplied as thawed liquid suspensions in plastic vials.

Genomic DNA can me made to order from the strains in our culture collection. It is isolated under aseptic conditions from actively growing cultures. Dispatch times vary a little depending on the characteristics of the organism. Contact us to find out more.

DNA sequences: We can sequence strains from our culture collection to order. Whole genome or 16S sequences can be provided. Contact us to find out more about turnaround times and pricing.

Our customers

We ship or strains to customers around the world, in industry and academia. Strains are used in research and development and quality control.

How to order, revive or deposit strains

You can go directly to our online catalogue to find a strain, or if you already know the taxon and NCIMB number of what you are looking for, you can use the enquiry form on this page to request a quote. Alternatively, use the menu below to learn more about pricing, revival of strains, how to deposit a strain in the collection, or to find a media recipe.