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 sweepA well known supermarket chain whose bread was going mouldy on the shelves commissioned CABI to investigate the cause. |
Mould on the moveOne 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. |
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.