Decades-old strains reveal Brakhagea, a budding bacterial genus with bioactive potential

Some microorganisms that hold great promise for research have long lain dormant in historical collections. But only through new methods are their diversity and potential becoming apparent. The team led by Professor Christian Jogler at Friedrich Schiller University in Jena examined one such collection: bacterial strains isolated between the 1980s and the early 2000s by Heinz Schlesner from various bodies of water in northern Germany, including the Schlei, a Baltic Sea fjord, as well as ponds and a wastewater lagoon.