Where in the world can you buy a phage? This week, we’re profiling five phage banks: one in Canada, one in Germany, one in the USA, one in South Korea, and one in the UK.
Many requests for phages and publicly-accessible phage banks
We commonly hear of requests for phages, either via Twitter, email, or via in-person conversations with members of the phage community. It is becoming apparent that there is a growing need for central phage banks, distributed around the world, that are actively used to both archive and improve access to phages for research and applications.
We’d love to hear from you!
(Please email responses to [email protected])
- Have you ever purchased a phage? Where did you get it, and what was your experience?
- Have you ever deposited a phage into a bank or repository?
- If you answered no to either of these, what would it take for you to do so?
Profiling phage banks
In response to this frequently-expressed request, we set out to start by profiling five phage banks we know of that currently support ordering and/or depositing of phages.
In addition to the ones profiled here, there are many private phage collections of varying sizes that may share phages for research and applications, and even other commercial ones that sell them. In the future, we hope to bring visibility to all of these collections.
Help us add to this guide!
The information about all the banks listed here has been obtained from the organizations’ websites. If you know of other phage banks, or if you represent any of these banks and would like to provide updated information, please send me an email at [email protected]. We plan to host this phage bank guide on Phage Directory in the near future.
Location: Laval, Quebec, Canada
Type: Phage Collection
Run by: Dr. Sylvain Moineau, Canada Research Chair at the Université Laval, and Denise Tremblay
Aim: To collect, conserve and distribute reference phages and information about them to foster research and education.
History: Founded in 1982 by the late Prof. Hans W. Ackermann, who ran the Center until he retired. Since 2003, Sylvain Moineau has curated the collection, with Denise Tremblay taking care of day-to-day operations.
Funding: NSERC, one of Canada’s primary scientific research funding bodies, funded the Center until 2012. It is now funded by the Université Laval, its Department of Biochemistry, Microbiology, and Bioinformatics, and Oplait
Available phages: > 400 phages targeting a large diversity of strains (phages of historical, geographical, taxonomic, agricultural, medical, veterinary or industrial significance)
Approximate cost of ordering a phage: ~ 300 CAD, plus shipping.
Ships internationally? Yes
Supports depositing phages? Yes
Other services: Also serves as a host bank, provides research services, such as electron microscopy of phages, phage genome analysis, and screening of strains for lysogeny.
Location: Braunschweig, Germany
Type: Culture collection with a phage component
Phage collection run by: Dr. Christine Rohde and Dr. Johannes Wittmann.
Aim: To expand the repertoire of phages for biodiversity research and applications (including therapy). Besides enlarging the phage diversity for as many bacterial phyla as possible, the DSMZ focuses on the collection of phages against pathogens.
History: Founded in 1969 as the national centre for culture collection in Germany. Now an independent institution.
Funding: German Ministry for Science and Technology, fees from sales and services
Available phages: ~ 300 phages, spanning many hosts
Approximate cost of ordering a phage: ~ EUR 125, plus shipping
Ships internationally? Yes
Supports depositing phages: Yes
Other services: Checks host range of phages, examines phage morphology, does bioinformatic analyses, participates in research projects, and partners with other organizations for phage projects.
Location: Yongin, South Korea
Type: Phage Collection
Director: Professor Heejoon Myung, Hankuk University of Foreign Studies
Aim: To collect and stock bacteriophages and distribute them to academics and industries worldwide.
History: Established in 2010.
Funding: Supported by a fund from Ministry of Science, ICT, and Future Planning, Korea.
Available phages: > 1000 phages (and growing), against mainly pathogenic hosts, such as Escherichia coli, Salmonella enterica, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus, Listeria monocytogenes, Acinetobacter baumanii, Enterococcus faecalis, Enterococcus faecium, Cronobacter sakazakii, Serratia marsescens, Campylobacter jejuni, and Bacillus cereus.
Approximate cost of a phage: Nominal handling fee (unknown)
Supports depositing phages? Yes
Other services: Phages are provided with information about initial characterization: host bacteria, site of isolation, composition of virion proteins as shown by SDS-PAGE analysis, MALDI-TOF MS analysis of major virion protein(s), and genome size as determined by PFGE analysis.
Location: Manassas, Virginia, USA
Type: Culture collection with a phage component
Phage collection run by: ATCC, a nonprofit organization
Aim: To acquire, authenticate, preserve, develop, standardize, and distribute biological materials and information for the advancement and application of scientific knowledge.
History: Established in 1925 when a committee of scientists recognized a need for a central collection of microorganisms that would serve scientists all over the world. The early years were spent at the McCormick Institute in Chicago until the organization moved to Georgetown University in Washington, DC in 1937. ATCC moved to its current location in 1998.
Funding: ATCC appears to be self-supported through the revenue it generates.
Available phages: ~ 400 phages spanning various species
Approximate cost of a phage: Varies according to the phage and the distributor: e.g. 300-600 CAD per phage via Cedarlane (Canada)
Ships internationally? Yes, via a large network of international distributors
Supports depositing phages? Yes
Other services: Many services and custom solutions (e.g. authentication, characterization), including research (e.g. improved methods for characterization, long-term preservation)
Location: Salisbury, UK
Type: Culture collection with a phage component
Phage collection run by: Public Health England; Contact: [email protected]
Aim: To supply reference strains to support academic, health, food and veterinary institutions, to support accessibility and reproducibility in science.
History: NCTC was founded in 1920, and is the world’s oldest bacterial collection. NCTC also has a fully curated bacteriophage archive, which is currently being characterised using a range of methods including electron microscopy and will be further chacterised using genomic sequencing in the future. It is intended that once characterised and rebanked the collection will be made available worldwide in 2019 to support scientific research.
Funding: Public Health England
Available phages: > 100 phages and their corresponding hosts (including Streptococcus agalactiae, Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli and Campylobacter), which were originally deposited for their value in bacterial typing.
Approx. cost of ordering a phage: Unknown
Ships internationally? Yes
Supports depositing phages: Yes
Other services: Unknown
In summary
We’ve profiled five phage banks that collect and sell phages. All five also support phage depositing from the community, and represent an important resource for phage researchers seeking to archive and/or share their phages, or to expand their own libraries.
In the future, we plan to host this global phage bank guide on Phage Directory, and to add to it over time.
If you know of phage banks/repositories that provide and/or accept phages, please get in touch with us by emailing [email protected]!
