You are invited to submit microbial inoculant samples for testing at no charge. This will form the basis of a scoping study to determine how frequently these types of products contain what is written on the label along with any significant contamination. Individual products will not be publicly identified in the scoping study, but parties that submit samples will be told the results of the individual products they have submitted so that they may have confidence using or selling them.

Background:

The University of Queensland, in collaboration with Metagen Australia and Fertilizer Australia is calling for growers, agronomists, re sellers and the wider agricultural community to provide microbial inoculants for testing as part of a student project. We are interested in obtaining products that contain defined species of live microbes, ideally with some measure of concentration such as CFU/ml/g, cells/ml/g, spores/ml/g or similar.

The aim of this student project is to determine how often these types of products contain what is written on the label and to determine if they contain any significant contamination.

Whilst Metagen Australia in particular has a potential conflict of interest, the sample handling process has been structured in a way which limits this possibility. Further more, a signed project agreement includes an undertaking by all the project partners not to engage in activities that result in mining and / or commercial exploitation of products samples submitted for the project.

Sample submission:

1.     If you do not have sterile tubes available, please contact ben@metagen.com.au for a product sampling pack,

2.     Please wear gloves while sampling products and make sure products are well mixed if liquid. If gloves become dirty between products, please change.

3.     Please only send in samples that are within the use by date and contain defined species of microbes with some form  of concentration written on the label.

4.     For each product to be tested please fill a sterile tube up to approximately 25ml. 

5.     Close the lid tightly and seal with tape or elastic parafilm.

6.     Please write a fake/code name on the side of the tube that only makes sense to the person sending in the sample.

7.     Please fill out both sample submission forms i.e. UQ submission form.xls and Metagen submission form.xls 

8.     Please send the UQ form to s.kalaipandian@uq.edu.au and put UQ-Metagen project as the subject line.

9.     Please send the Metagen form to r.valavadibalachandran@student.uq.edu.au

          10.    Please send the physical sample marked with fake/code name to 98 Chadwick Road, Gatton, QLD, 4343

 

Results will be passed directly from the UQ master's student to Dr Sundar at UQ who will have access to submitter details and will distribute results.

 

To request a product sampling pack or for project enquiries please contact:

Dr Ben Evert, ben@metagen.com.au 0450541942

Dr Sundar Kalaipandian, s.kalaipandian@uq.edu.au

Rohit Krishna r.valavadibalachandran@student.uq.edu.au

Jeff Kraak, jeff.kraak@fertilizer.org.au

 

Methods:

• Clients submitting samples are encouraged to use a fake/code product name that will only make sense to them. Product samples will be sent to the Metagen lab with a form that states the fake/code name and what microbes are expected to be in the product and at what concentration. A separate form that contains the product fake/code name and the client’s contact details will be sent to Dr. Sundar Kalaipandian at the University of Queensland. Results will be passed from the master’s student directly to Sundar who will be able to see which client the results belong to and from there send the results back to the client. This ensures that Metagen and the student testing the products have no access to the real name of the product or the details of the person/organisation that submitted the product.
• CFU counting will be done with biological replicates in triplicate. The type of agar used, and growth conditions may vary depending on the types of microbial products being tested. A general guide for how CFU counting will be done can be found here: https://www.eppendorf.com/au-en/beyond-science/method-applications/microbiology/how-to-quantify-bacterial-cultures/
• DNA will be extracted from microbial products and amplicon sequencing will be performed to characterise microbes in products when they can’t be cultured using standard agar and CFU counting. Since DNA can be detected from non-viable microorganisms this will help us understand if the product is contaminated or simply non-viable. This may also be done in the circumstance that CFU counts fail to match up with what is reported on the label of products. This will be done by Metagen Australia.
• Manufactures of products which return poor results will be contacted and offered the chance to send in new samples for retesting.

Results of tested products will not be made publicly available however individuals who submit products will be made aware the results of the specific products they submitted so that they may have confidence using or selling them.