Snodgrassella alvi and Gilliamella apicola were both added to the culture collection on 21st March 2012. These two species of bacteria were found in the gut of the honey bee and deposited by Waldan Kwong, who was at that time a PhD Student in Prof. Nancy Moran’s lab at Yale University.
There is much concern about the decline in bee populations, and studying these bacteria might help scientists to learn more about bee health and ecology. Just like humans, bees have a natural community of bacteria in their intestines. Some possible roles of the two species that were deposited may be protection of the bee against parasites, or helping with the digestion of pollen, but further research is needed to find out more about the function of the bacteria and the nature of their relationship with the bee.
Culture collections like NCIMB play an important role in making strains isolated through academic research available to industry and other researchers, and NCIMB regularly ships strains from the collection around the globe.
To purchase strains or for information on how to deposit strains with NCIMB contact firstname.lastname@example.org.