Biological Resource Center (NBRC) / Deposit of Biological Materials

Deposit of Biological Materials

NBRC accepts deposit of biological materials. NBRC collect biological materials that are newly named, not included in our list, or any others of potential usefulness for academic and industrial uses. The materials will be entered into our list with a unique number and stored at -80 degrees of C or in liquid nitrogen in the case of microorganisms, or at -80 degrees of C or on a FTA card in the case of DNA clones.

The following categories of deposit are available.

General deposit - for public open collection

Safety deposit - nondisclosure long-term preservation

Requiring MTA & distribution restricted - listed open but restricted to research use only

Patent deposit

When you want to deposit biological materials, please read each term of the deposit agreement. Please be sure to contact us at the address shown below before deposit, since some biological materials may not be accepted for safety and other reasons.

Biological Resource Center (NBRC)
National Institute of Technology and Evaluation
2-5-8 Kazusakamatari, Kisarazu-shi, Chiba, 292-0818 JAPAN

FAX: +81-438-52-2329

Acceptable Microorganisms

Kind of Microorganisms: Bacteria including actinomycetes and archaea, Yeast, Fungi, Algae, Bacteriophages, DNA clones
Biosafety Level: Up to Biosafety Level 2 according to the safety regulations for the control of pathogens and other organisms of the National Institute of Infectious Diseases (NIID), Japan
Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO) or Living Modified Organism (LMO): Up to P2 level according to Japanese legislation, Cartagena protocol on biosafety to the convention on biological diversity
Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD): No organisms can be accepted without information of the country of origin. Depositors should transfer materials in accordance with a treaty provision of the CBD.

General deposit

A list of general deposited biological materials will be published in a NBRC catalog that will be periodically updated and distributed to research institutes etc.

When you would like to deposit biological materials, please read each term of the Agreement for Depository of Biological Resources (PDF: 29KB). We accept biological materials useful for academic and industrial purposes. Please download the accession forms from here.

An official receipt will be issued free of charge when your deposit is accepted. The receipt may be used as a certificate for the public availability of your deposited materials when publishing the research results of a new species, etc.

For the depositary procedure, see below.

Safety deposit (available to all depositors working and based in Japan)

Biological materials may also be accepted as a safety deposit. In this case, NBRC will take responsibility for the preservation of the deposited materials only. Furthermore, the materials will not be distributed to third parties nor will they be made public.
Fee: ¥6,300/order + ¥5,250/strain/year included tax.

Deposits requiring MTA for distribution

Upon distribution of the deposited biological materials that require MTA (material transfer agreement) for the distribution to third parties, the client must provide a signed pledge stating that he/she will obtain a written consent from the depositor for an industrial use of the materials. Thus, the depositor can trace and control the status of the deposited biological materials.

When you would like to deposit your biological materials that require MTA, then please read the "Agreement for the use of biological material depository system (PDF: 42KB)". Biological materials of particular industrial usefulness will be widely accepted.
Fee: ¥10,000/order + tax.

Depositary Procedure

In the case of "General deposit" and "Deposits requiring MTA for distribution", we will proceed as follow.

Please contact to our desk (nbrc@nite.go.jp) or responsible staff who specializes in your microorganisms (see here). Plant pathogen(s) from outside Japan is (are) necessary to approval of import before shipping.
NOTE: Please inform us of the necessary conditions for handling the biological materials, including the medium, cultivation temperature, aerobic/anaerobic condition, cultivation period, etc.
The contact person will reply whether acceptable or not as soon as possible.
Fill the Accession Form and send your materials together to the contact person. Please download appropriate Accession Form for your deposition from here.
NOTE: Any forms of biological materials are acceptable for deposit, such as L- dried form (by frozen and active cultures), unless there is problem in survival activity at depositary.
We send NBRC accession number via e-mail after primary check (living check, sequence of 16S for bacteria). In some cases, we send back material(s) to depositors to confirm identification, contamination, quality of survibe, etc.
Only for general deposit, after preservation and quality check, NBRC will issue the certification "Notice of acceptance of biological genetic resources" that is certifiable for the type strain.

contact us

Culture Collection Division
Biological Resource Center (NBRC)
National Institute of Technology and Evaluation

2-5-8 Kazusakamatari, Kisarazu-shi, Chiba, 292-0818 JAPAN
TEL:+81-438-20-5763
FAX:+81-438-52-2329

Mail:	nbrc@nite.go.jp
MAP:	Wide Area Local Area [Kazusa(Chiba)/Head Office(Tokyo)]