Need to identify Bacillus isolates as part of your environmental monitoring programme? Whole gene 16S sequencing can provide fast and accurate results

by Vikki Warren, NCIMB Identification Services Manager Identification of bacterial isolates provides vital information for pharmaceutical microbiologists undertaking environmental monitoring programmes within GMP production facilities, but some genera and species can be more tricky to identify than others. A commonly encountered example is identification of Bacillus species. Why 16S sequencing? At NCIMB we use 16S sequencing and the MicroSeq database to identify environmental isolates for our customers, because it has the potential to offer an unambiguous result – ultimately it is the DNA that defines the species. But what exactly …

Comparing and differentiating closely related strains of bacteria

Strain comparison and differentiation can be valuable in a range of circumstances. NCIMB’s Identification Services Manager, Vikki Warren takes a look at recent developments in the methods available for doing this and why whole genome sequencing is NCIMB’s preferred approach. Environmental monitoring is an important part of quality control in pharmaceutical manufacturing environments. When it comes to investigating incursions or process contaminants, comparing them to previous isolates and tracing their source, strain comparison and differentiation can provide valuable information over and above species level identification. If several different strains are …