Microbiology
Facility
The Microbiology Research Facility supports the research of marine microorganisms (microalgae, protists, flagellates, bacteria, virus) and benthic organisms (anemones and corals) that students, postdocs and researchers are currently developing in the Red Sea Research Center. Monocultures of selected microalgal and cyanobacteria strains grow in seawater inside Percival incubator chambers under strictly monitored light and temperature conditions. The Center also has more than 100 strains of bacteria and viruses, cryopreserved at 140oC, that are ready to grow when cultured again in marine agar or seawater. Anemones and corals are maintained in tanks inside incubator chambers and are fed with fresh Artemia that hatch in our installations. To ensure the water parameters are within the optimum quality range, daily checks on temperature, salinity and density are carried out on a daily basis by our technical staff. To maintain our organisms in healthy conditions, all the seawater used is sampled from the coastal Red Sea and sterilized once in our laboratory.