Maintenance and Preservation of Organisms

Once a microorganism has been isolated and grown in pure culture, it becomes necessary to
maintain the viability and purity of the microorganism by keeping the pure culture free from
contamination. Similarly, a microbiology laboratory has to maintain quality control (QC) stocks
obtained from the ATCC or commercial vendors. QC strains are required for the testing of culture
media, kits, and reagents.

Normally in laboratories, the pure cultures are transferred periodically onto or into a fresh medium
(subculturing) to allow continuous growth and viability of microorganisms. The transfer is always
subject to aseptic conditions to avoid contamination.

Since repeated subculturing is time-consuming, it becomes difficult to maintain a large number of

pure cultures successfully for a long time. In addition, there is a risk of genetic changes as well as
contamination. Therefore, it is now being replaced by some modern methods that do not need
frequent subculturing. These methods include refrigeration, paraffin method, cryopreservation, and
lyophilization (freeze-drying).

Table of Contents
1) Short-term Storage
a) Periodic Transfer to Fresh Media
b) Refrigeration
c) Preservation in Glycerol at -20 °C
d) Stab Cultures
e) Cooked-meat medium (anaerobes)
2) Long Term Storage
a. Freezing at -70°C
b. Cryopreservation
c. Lyophilization (Freeze-Drying)
d. Recovery of Bacteria from Lyophilized storage condition
e. Paraffin Method
1. Short-term Storage

a) Periodic Transfer to Fresh Media

Strains can be maintained by periodically preparing a fresh culture from the previous stock. The
culture medium, the storage temperature, and the time interval at which the transfers are made
vary with the species and must be ascertained beforehand. The temperature and the medium
chosen should support a slow rather than a rapid rate of growth so that the time interval between
transfers can be as long as possible. Many more common heterotrophs remain viable for several
weeks or months on a medium like nutrient agar.

The transfer method has the disadvantage of failing to prevent changes in the characteristics of a
strain due to the development of variants and mutants.

b) Refrigeration

Pure cultures can be successfully stored at 0-4°C in refrigerators or cold rooms. This method is
applied for a short duration (2-3 weeks for bacteria and 3-4 months for fungi) because the metabolic
activities of the microorganisms are significantly slowed down but not stopped. Thus, their growth
continues slowly, nutrients are utilized, and waste products are released into the medium. This
finally results in the microbes’ death after some time.

c) Preservation in Glycerol at -20 °C

1. Grow a pure culture on an appropriate solid medium.

2. When the culture is fully developed, scrape it off with a loop.
3. Suspend small clumps of the culture in sterile neutral glycerol.
4. Distribute in quantities of 1–2 ml in screw-capped tubes or vials.
5. Store at -20 °C. Avoid repeated freezing and thawing. Transfer after 12–18 months.

d) Stab Cultures

Stab cultures at room temperature are used for non-fastidious organisms only, such as Staphylococci
and Enterobacteriaceae

1. Prepare tubes with a deep butt of carbohydrate-free agar. Tryptic soy agar is recommended.
2. Stab the organism into the agar.
3. Incubate overnight at 35 °C.
4. Close tube with screw-cap or cork. Dip cap or cork into molten paraffin wax to seal.
5. Store at room temperature. Transfer after one year.

Stab culture in cystine trypticase agar (CTA) method is recommended for the preservation of
Neisseria and Streptococci.

1. Prepare tubes of cystine trypticase agar.

2. Stab the organism into the medium.
3. Incubate overnight at 35 °C.
4. Close tube with screw-cap or cork. Dip cap or cork into molten paraffin wax to seal.
5. For Neisseria, store at 35 °C, and transfer every two weeks. For streptococci, store at room
temperature, and transfer every month.

e) Cooked-meat medium (anaerobes)

Cooked-meat medium is used for the preservation of anaerobic bacteria.

 1. Inoculate tubes of cooked meat medium with the isolate.
2. Incubate overnight at 35 °C.
3. Close tube with screw-cap or cork.
4. Store at room temperature. Transfer every two months.

2. Long Term Storage

Long-term preservation methods permit intervals of months or even years between subcultures.
Isolates may be stored indefinitely if they are maintained frozen at -70°C or below; these
temperatures can be achieved in an “ultralow freezer” (-70°C) or a liquid nitrogen freezer (-196°C).

Lyophilization or storage at -70°C or below is the best method for long-term preservation of bacterial
culture, and general storage of isolates at -20°C is not recommended.

a) Freezing at -70°C

Long-term storage of aerobes and anaerobes can be accomplished by freezing at -70°C. Frozen, non-
fastidious organisms should be thawed, reisolated, and refrozen every five years; fastidious
organisms should be thawed, reisolated, and refrozen every three years. Acid-fast bacilli (AFB) may
also be frozen at -70°C in 7H9 broth with glycerol. Viruses may be stored indefinitely at -70°C in a
solution containing a cryoprotectant, such as 10% dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) or fetal bovine serum.

b) Cryopreservation

Cryopreservation (i.e., freezing in liquid nitrogen at -196°C or in the gas phase above the liquid
nitrogen at -150°C) helps the survival of pure cultures for long storage times.

In this method, the microorganisms of culture are rapidly frozen in liquid nitrogen at -196°C in the
presence of stabilizing agents such as glycerol or dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) that prevent cell
damage due to the formation of ice crystals and promote cell survival.

This liquid nitrogen method has been successful with many species that cannot be preserved by
lyophilization and most species can remain viable under these conditions for 10 to 30 years without
undergoing a change in their characteristics; however, this method is expensive.

c) Lyophilization

Most organisms may be successfully stored after lyophilization (freeze-drying). Freeze-drying is a

process where water and other solvents are removed from a frozen product via sublimation.
Sublimation occurs when a frozen liquid goes directly to a gaseous state without entering a liquid
phase. The freeze-drying process results in a stable, readily rehydrated product. This process
consists of three steps:

1. pre-freezing the product in laboratory freezer to form a frozen structure,

2. primary drying to remove water,
3. and secondary drying to remove bound water.

It is recommended to use slow rates of cooling, as this will result in the formation of vertical ice
crystal structures, thus allowing for more efficient water sublimation from the frozen product.
Freeze-dried products are hygroscopic and must be protected from moisture during storage. Under
these conditions, the microbial cells are dehydrated, and their metabolic activities are stopped; as a
result, the microbes go into a dormant state and retain viability for years. Lyophilized or freeze-dried
pure cultures are then sealed and stored in the dark at 4°C in refrigerators.

The freeze-drying method is the most frequently used technique by culture collection centers. Many
species of bacteria preserved by this method have remained viable and unchanged in their
characteristics for more than 30 years.

Advantage of Lyophilization

Only minimal storage space is required; hundreds of lyophilized cultures can be stored in a small
area. Small vials can be sent conveniently through the mail to other microbiology laboratories when
packaged in a special sealed mailing container. Lyophilized cultures can be revived by opening the
vials, adding the liquid medium, and transferring the rehydrated culture to a suitable growth
medium.

Recovery of Bacteria from Lyophilized storage condition

To recover the isolate, follow the step-wise procedure as mentioned below;

1. Remove the frozen cultures from the freezer and place them on dry ice or into an alcohol
and dry-ice bath;
2. Transfer to a laboratory safety cabinet or a clean area if a cabinet is not available.
3. Scrape the top-most portion of the culture using a sterile loop
4. Transfer to a growth medium without contaminating the top or inside of the vial.
5. Re-close the vial before the contents completely thaw, and return the vial to the freezer;
with careful technique, transfers can be successfully made from the same vial several times.
 6. Incubate for 18–24 hours at 35–37°C; perform at least one subculture before using the
isolate to inoculate a test.

d) Paraffin Method

Preservation of organisms by overlaying culture medium with mineral oil is a simple and economical
method of maintaining pure cultures of bacteria and fungi. For example, PDA slants may be overlaid
with sterile mineral oil and stored at room temperature for the longer-term storage of fungi.

In this method, sterile liquid paraffin is poured over the slant (slope) of the culture and stored
upright at room temperature. The layer of paraffin ensures anaerobic conditions and prevents
dehydration of the medium. This condition helps microorganisms or pure culture to remain
dormant; therefore, the culture can be preserved from months to years (varies with species).

Procedure

1. Prepare tubes of heart infusion agar with a short slant. For fastidious organisms, add fresh
native or heated blood.
2. Sterilize mineral oil (liquid petrolatum) in hot air (170 °C for 1 hour).
3. Grow a pure culture on the agar slant.
4. When good growth is seen, add sterile mineral oil to about 1 cm above the tip of the slant.
5. Subculture when needed by scraping growth from under the oil.
6. Store at room temperature. Transfer after 6–12 months.

The advantage of this method is that we can remove some of the growth under the oil with a
transfer needle, inoculate a fresh medium, and still preserve the original culture. The simplicity of
the method makes it attractive, but changes in the characteristics of a strain can still occur.