Hi, I am a high school teacher and one of my student teams is looking for someone to collaborate with on their Student Spaceflight Experiment Program project. For this project they want to see how Bacillis subtillis reproduces in space. I have E. coli strains (DH5alpha, TG1, XL1blue, and BL21 variants) but no Bacillis subtillis. They could also use some advice about culturing it. If anyone is interested you can post here and I will contact you.

Edited October 21, 201510 yr by dterbush

The easiest way to buy them is from ATCC (US) or maybe the DSMZ (located in Germany, but they are usually cheaper). If you are lacking the budget you can always ask local researchers to have some for you. The latter is the easiest options as you can just pop in and get a plate. At least in theory, as some researchers may have unknowingly signed a material transfer agreement that prohibits them from distributing them further. An example is the MTA from ATCC, which requires ATCC's written agreement. DSMZ does not seem to have that issue, I believe.

 

Either way, if you want to receive strains via shipment you have to make sure that you are following proper shipping and receiving biological material. If you have to something already in place (as e.g. for the E. colis) be sure to document that you followed it. You really do not want to get into trouble with receiving Bacillus even if it is a harmless one. Sometimes it raises flags that can make things difficult (not saying that it is likely to happen, but a few years back reseachers got into serious trouble for failing to follow procedure).

you could also try http://www.blades-bio.co.uk/proddetail.asp?prod=LZB025they are in the UK and cheap. We have it but are unable to supply due to transfer restrictions (seems to be getting worse these days), shout me if you get stuck