100 years and counting: the National Collection of Type Cultures centenary
Authors: Sarah Alexander, Sunita Gurung
Journal: The Lancet Microbe (2020)

The National Collection of Type Cultures (NCTC) was founded in 1920, and to date is regarded as the oldest existing bacterial strain collection in the world that was specifically established to provide microbiologists with a trustworthy source of authenticated bacterial strains. The collection was originally established by the Lister Institute of Preventative medicine in Chelsea (London, UK) and was funded by the Medical Research Committee, which became the Medical Research Council. The collection grew rapidly from its conception, and in its first 100 years, the NCTC has supplied approximately 500 000 bacterial strains to scientists all over the world. Although the remit has evolved over the past 100 years, the NCTC now has a very strong clinical focus and accepts bacterial strains of either medical or veterinary significance. The NCTC is taxonomically diverse, comprising of more than 6000 bacterial strains, representing 900 different species, from 82 different families. However, this is in sharp contrast to when the collection was first founded. In 1920, the NCTC was originally seeded using strains that were already within private collections in the Lister Institute, which were largely Enterobacteriaceae and Vibrionaceae strains of important historical interest. These strains included Theodore Escherich's original strain of Escherichia coli (NCTC 86); so called Martin 1, a Vibrio cholera strain isolated in 1916 (NCTC 30), which is now known to be the oldest live strain of V cholera in the world; and a collection of Sir Frederick Andrewes’ Shigella strains (eg, Shigella flexneri; NCTC 1), many of which were sourced from soldiers who were serving in World War 1.1Méric G Hitchings MD Pascoe B Sheppard SK From Escherich to the Escherichia coli genome.Lancet Infect Dis. 2016; 16: 634-636Summary Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (11) Google Scholar, 2Dorman MJ Kane L Domman D et al.The history, genome and biology of NCTC 30: a non-pandemic Vibrio cholerae isolate from World War One.Proc Biol Sci. 2019; 286: 2018-2025Google Scholar, 3Baker KS Mather AE McGregor H et al.The extant World War 1 dysentery bacillus NCTC1: a genomic analysis.Lancet. 2014; 384: 1691-1697Summary Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (23) Google Scholar Interestingly, there is a renaissance in popularity in many of the historical strains within the collection, with the advent of next generation sequencing technologies revealing that these very old strains can often prove vital in resolving gaps in our knowledge of microbial evolution.4Bennett RJ Baker KS Looking backward to move forward: the utility of sequencing historical bacterial genomes.J Clin Microbiol. 2019; 57: e00100-e00119Crossref PubMed Scopus (4) Google Scholar The NCTC is the oldest strain collection in the world, holding many historical strains that are invaluable to science, but it is not a static collection. The collection is very much dynamic, accepting more than 200 new bacterial strains every year, with microbiologists depositing their strains for many reasons. Scientists describing new bacterial species are obligated to comply with the International Bacterial Code, which dictates that submission of a strain to a culture collection (the NCTC is a recognised bacterial repository) is a prerequisite of defining a bacterial species, ensuring reproducibility. Other deposits include control strains that are fully characterised and listed in standardised microbiological laboratory procedures from official bodies (eg, WHO and the European Committee on Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing). The deposition of these strains into the NCTC ensures not only that they are accessible to the global community of microbiologists, but that they are also preserved within the collection by lyophilisation, which reduces any strain variation by minimising the requirement for multiple strain passages. There is no charge for depositing strains in the NCTC and, once accessioned, the strain will be preserved indefinitely. The collection ensures that priceless strains are accessible to future scientists, an appealing opportunity for researchers who are changing institutions or preparing for retirement: depositing in such a collection ensures that their legacy is maintained because the biological material from which their publications are derived are available for future generations of scientists to explore. In 2020, the NCTC enters its 100th year of operation and it has endured substantial change since it was established, including eight curators, five relocations, World War 2, and four different parent organisations. In 2021, it is likely that the NCTC will go through more change as its parent organisation transitions from Public Health England to the newly formed National Institute of Health Protection. It is a fitting moment to reflect on the impact and contribution of the NCTC to microbiology. To ensure longevity, the collection will need to be able to continue to adapt to change and remain both scientifically relevant and financially secure. As the NCTC enters its second century of operation, it is anticipated that the collection will continue to grow and, most importantly, continue to supply bacterial pathogens, plasmids, bacteriophages, and nucleic acids to support scientist who are researching infectious diseases. We declare no competing interests.