Skim milk enhances the preservation of thawed - 80 °C bacterial stocks

The results from bacterial strain recovery efforts following hurricanes Katrina and Rita are reported. Over 90% of strains frozen in 10% skim milk were recovered whereas various recovery rates were observed for glycerol-stored stocks (56% and 94% of E. coli, depending upon the laboratory). These observations led to a viability comparison of Streptococcus pyogenes, Campylobacter jejuni, Borrelia burgdorferi, Salmonella enterica subsp. Typhimurium, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Escherichia coli strains stored in glycerol or skim milk. In all bacteria examined, 10% skim milk resulted in significantly longer viability after thawing than 15% glycerol solutions currently used in most laboratories.