Strains with *
In 2015 the DSMZ began accepting so-called “bulk deposits” of important microbial collections such as those from large-scale microbiome cultivation projects. These large deposits often consist of hundreds of strains from a single cultivation source that are deposited at the DSMZ in conjunction with the release of an important peer-reviewed publication.
Because of the size of the deposits our curators are unable to process all strains in the bulk deposit with the high-level of scientific quality control that accompanies single deposits. Instead, bulk deposits will be received as “candidate” catalog deposits and are indicated in the catalog with a DSM Number followed by an asterisk (*) character.
The * indicates that the strain has been received as part of a bulk deposit, but is not yet quality-controlled and validated through DSMZ. Instead, quality control and validation will be performed when a strain is ordered.
This has two important consequences for the customer:
- there is a chance that the strain cannot be successfully cultivated or quality-controlled and cannot ultimately be delivered (in which case it will be deleted from the catalog); and
- successful cultivation and quality-control before delivery requires additional processing time such that delivery will take significantly longer than for normal (non-*) strains in the catalog. The curator responsible for your order will do his/her best to keep you informed of the timeframe.
Once a strain has been successfully processed and shipped, the * will be removed from the DSM number and the catalog will be updated accordingly. Future orders of such a strain should proceed normally.
For more information on the criteria and procedure for a bulk deposit or a current list of microbiome deposits, please see the Microbiome & Collective Deposits page