Facility In Charge: Dr. I. Geetha, Senior Technical Officer
“Search for microbial agents for mosquito control” was a screening programme carried out by ICMR-VCRC since 1978. Samples of soil, mosquito larvae and water from paddy fields, ponds, pools/puddles, lakes, backwaters/estuaries, aquatic plants from the domestic ponds were collected, preserved, brought to the laboratory and examined for the presence of bacilli active against larvae of mosquitoes. Some of the Bacillus thuringiensis and Lysini bacillus sphaericus isolates were subjected to serotyping and phage typing by Pasteur institute, France. Bacterial and fungal strains isolated over a period of 40 years are maintained in the Microbial Culture Collection Facility of ICMR-VCRC and available at the Unit of Microbiology and Molecular Biology. Bacterial and Fungal cultures available in MCCF are preserved at -80°C and also maintained ass as lyophilized spores. Patented bacterial and fungal strains known for the production of mosquitocidal toxins and metabolites periodically revived and stored. The MCCF facility functions as a depository to supply authentic microbial cultures to the scientists/ scholars working in VCRC.
