Assets for drug discovery programs

The strain library

The NAICONS microbial collection comprises 45k bacterial strains, mostly actinomycetes, isolated from >2,600 different sources. The strains were isolated using proprietary methods that favored slow-germinating strains or those producing motile spores. Most strains were isolated during the 1996-2006 period. The collection was acquired by NAICONS Srl in September 2013 and is fully ABS compliant.

As of November 2023, 28% of the collection is classified on the basis of 16S sequence data: there are over 100 genera belonging to 29 different families.

Taxonomic distribution of the 13k 16S-classified strains at family (inner circle) and genus (outer circle) level. Families with <50 strains are merged in a single group. Only most abundant genera are indicated. Numbers indicate the number of strains.

The remaining 32k strains are classified, on the basis of morphology only, into 18 distinct families. The 16S-classified portion of the library is currently expanding. In addition, full genome sequences are available for about 500 strains.  

Taxonomic distribution at family level of the remaining 32k strains. Families with <200 strains are merged in a single group. Numbers indicate number of strains.

The extract libraries

As of November 2023, over 67k extracts are available, all as dried samples in ready-to-screen 96-well microtiter plates (80 extracts per plate). Multiple copies of each extract are available in twin plates. The extracts were prepared by processing actinomycete cultures using two different procedures. The earlier procedure involved preparing two extracts per culture: one by solid-phase extraction of the spent medium; and one by solvent extraction of the biomass. The current procedure involves generating a Full Extract (FE) from the entire culture along with six partially fractionated extracts.

Most extracts (59,640) were prepared with the current procedure starting from 8520 cultures from 7334 different strains. The remaining 7,440 extracts were prepared with the old procedure, starting from 3,720 cultures from 2,901 strains.

Taxonomic distribution of strains yielding the available extracts as of November, 2023. “Early” and “Current” procedure refers to methods for extract preparation.

The extract library is being expanded by processing additional strains with the current procedure. 

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