Antimicrobial Tests and beyond: From microorganisms to molecules and vice versa

The JMRC is a joint collection of the Leibniz Institute for Natural Product Research and Infection Biology and the University of Jena. Within the HKI it functions as cross-sectional unit providing services in strain deposit, maintenance, identification and characterization of their antimicrobial, antiproliferative and virulence potentials. Therefore, the microorganisms preserved in the JMRC are regarded as natural resources. The antimicrobial properties of microorganisms and chemical compounds are elucidated against a test set of 15 bacteria and 30 fungi in order to evaluate the growth inhibition effect on these tester organisms. Antiproliferative properties and virulence potentials are determined in various mammalian cell cultures and in the embryonated hen egg model, respectively. The latter two are pursued in collaboration with the department of Infection Biology and the research group Microbial Immunology for antiproliferative and virulence tests, respectively.