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 Microorganism identification  

We identify fungi and bacteria using morphological and molecular methods. We also provide characterisation of strains using DNA fingerprinting.

CABI has the in-house capability to enable us to definitively identify for you, microorganisms that are being used in the development of novel products, in research or are contaminating laboratories, products and manufacturing processes.

 

We also provide identifications for plant pathologists, plant health authorities and researchers world-wide working in agriculture, quarantine, biodiversity assessment and biological control.

You may wish to check what species of fungi you are working with in the laboratory, know what type of mould is forming on your product or, as a builder check that work can start despite the discovery of a microorganism on site. 

Whatever the reason, we can either work on samples collected by you (using our sampling kit) or make a site visit to collect the samples ourselves, accurately identify what is present and provide you with a report. 

 

Identification reports

We report on each microorganism identified, providing the scientific name, author citation, details of habitat, occurrence, geographical distribution, and relevant literature references. We also provide an indication of the pathogenicity, toxicity or hazard status of the organism. For samples processed by molecular methods sequence data is provided on request.

 
In addition to providing identifications from a sample provided by you, we can make site visits to assess the environment the microorganism is in and collect a sample. We then report back on its behaviours, the likely source in your business and advise on control so that its impact on your business is minimised.
 
For more information about our consultancy services and testing please see the ‘testing’ section, on the left. 
   

Did you know?

CABI has the only UK laboratory accredited by UKAS for on-site mould contamination testing

 
Below are a couple of recent case studies of our on-site consultancy work. 

Supermarket sweep 

A well known supermarket chain whose bread was going mouldy on the shelves commissioned CABI to investigate the cause.
 
We undertook a complete bioaudit at the bakery of the outlet. Samples were taken at every point of the production system, from the flour itself, to the dough, conveyor belts, slicing machines, air, and the water supply.
 
After mycological analysis of the samples, the water supply was identified as the source of the contaminating mould. Under advice from CABI, the water tank and pipes were cleaned and the problem solved.

 

Mould on the move

One of our clients’ high sugar content pharmaceutical product recently developed mould growth in the bottle, whilst on the shelf. A whole series of batches of the product had to be recalled from retail outlets whilst Quality Assurance looked into the cause of this mould problem.
 
CABI was called in to test the bottling plant to look for the source of the contamination, taking samples from the air, water, greases and machinery used in manufacture. Analysis of the samples from the factory revealed that the mould did not originate from the bottling process but was brought in with the product itself. 
 
The next logical step was tracing the product back to continental Europe where it was manufactured.  There we discovered that the company was shipping the liquid to the UK in large containers which were not properly sterilised after each use and were damp when the pharmaceutical was poured in – conditions ideal for mould growth.
 
However, CABI identified that this was only exacerbating a mould problem that originated elsewhere. By tracing the mould back through the whole production and packaging process we identified that the source of the mould was in the raw material being imported from South East Asia.
 
CABI advised on new sterilisation procedures and an enhanced quality control procedure to prevent recurrence of this costly and potentially reputation damaging mould problem.

 
Please note

We accept pure cultures of fungi, (including mould and yeasts) and bacteria grown on a firm agar medium. These should be mite-free (we can advise if this is a problem) and from sources unlikely to contain organisms pathogenic to man. We also accept dried specimens of fungi.