The BUSCOB is an academic biobank hosted by the "Agroenvironmental Microbiology unit" of DISTAL and contains about 10000 bacterial strains, of which 9000 belong to the Bifidobacteriaceae family (mainly to the Bifidobacterium genus). The remaining 1000 strains refer to the Lactobacillus genus and to a miscellaneous of different strains derived from public and private collections. BUSCOB is an important resource for the international community for ecological and applied (probiotics) studies.
The Microbial Collection was founded in the mid-sixty by Prof. Vittorio Scardovi (1918-1995), one of the pioneers in studying bifidobacteria. From 2002, seven new genera (Aeriscardovia, Alloscardovia, Bombiscardovia, Metascardovia, Neoscardovia, Parascardovia, Scardovia) and a new species, Bifidobacterium scardovii, were named to honor Vittorio Scardovi. This is the largest number of names ever dedicated to a single scientist: a sign of recognition of his outstanding contribution to this field. This collection underwent significant development and expansion for the bifidobacteria. As is the case for many working collections, it was born almost spontaneously with the primary task of conserving the innumerable cultures isolated from different ecological habitats: body environments, such as human, animal, and insects, as wella as extra body environments, such as sewage, fermented milk, and digestors. About 3000 bifidobacteria strains have been identified at the species level by classique and molecular techniques; the remaining 6000 strains have been identified based on the positive activity of fructose-6-phosphate posphoketolase (the taxonomic key enzyme of Bifidobacteriaceae family). The collection core of about 7000 strains was arranged between 1965 and 1985. Recently other 2000 bifidobacteria strains isolated from different habitats (primates included) have been added. The strains are conserved as freeze-dried cultures at room temperature with a renewal frequency of 15-20 years.
The list of strains belonging to BUSCOB is now available in electronic form at https://site.unibo.it/buscob-microbial-collection/en.
BUSCOB collection has been registered to World Federation Culture Collection (WFFC) and to European Culture Collection Organization (ECCO) (https://www.eccosite.org/portfolio-item/buscob/)
Our current priorities are the implementation and updating of BUSCOB collection as follows:
• bifidobacteria (mainly) and lactobacilli isolation
• characterization by specific techniques
• maintenance: growth, storage, and evaluation of genetic stability
• legislation affecting the use of microorganisms
• safe handling and use of microorganisms.