September 15, 2006 (Vol. 26, No. 16)
URL:
http://www.nies.go.jp/biology/mcc/home.htm
Rating:
Strong Points: Easy access to strains
Weak Points: Very uninspired
Summary:
The Microbial Culture Collection (MCC) of the National Institute for Environmental Studies in Ibaraki, Japan, hosts this rather uninspired site. If you thought the title was in need of a little ooomph, then you may not want to go further than the opening page. Okay, perhaps that’s a bit harsh for a microbial culture repository. Started in 1983, the collection houses over 1,200 strains of microbes from Japanese environmental research projects. Information about the strains, including growth conditions, is easily accessible. Visitors can order strains, deposit strains, and also retrieve images of the diverse species. Unfortunately, little more than the basic info of each strain was available, making the MCC site a must only for someone looking to obtain a strain or deposit one.
