Preservation of lyophilized cultures of saprophytic microorganisms

: All of the tested saprophytic microbial cultures remained viable upon 11--16 years of storage in the lyophilized state at 3--6 degrees. The cultures belonged to the following taxonomic groups: Acetobacter, Achromobacter, Azotobacter, Bacillus, Chromatium, Escherichia, Flavobacterium, Lactobacillus, Micrococcus, Proteus, Propionibacterium, Pseudomonas, Rhizobium, Sarcina, Serratia, Streptococcus, Torula, Mycobacterium, Actinomyces. The number of viable cells in the tubes decredased only slightly within this time and remained at the same level as immediately after lyophilization.