About GTPR
The Gastrointestinal Tract Pathogens Repository (GTPR) is the
national facility at "National institution of Cholera and Enteric
Diseases" (NICED) division of Microbiology sponsored by the Indian
Council of Medical Research (ICMR), New Delhi for the maintenance,
and supply of enteric pathogens. The centre was established in 2011.
The Collection now maintains over 2000 enteric pathogens. The main
aim of the centre is to set up a facility of international standard
for preservation and to handle deposits of medically important
enteric microorganisms and to supply authentic strains to
investigators in India. Scientists and researchers would have access
to database of preserved medically important enteric microorganisms.
In diversity of species it is unchallenged as a reference centre for
microbiological research in India. Preservation of the organisms
while maintaining their original characters is an enormous
challenge. Due to high level of contamination along with change in
characteristics of microorganisms preserved on agar, there is an
increasing demand of reliable long-term preservation, which is the
main aim of GTPR. The centre also focuses on the identification of
enteric pathogens, making use of phenotypic as well as molecular and
genomics approaches. The significance of a collection depends not
only on the quality of the strains maintained but also on the data
affixed to them. The available databases allow information recovery
and access to strain data. The GTPR is a centre of expertise,
advising on microbiological problems of health-related and
scientific nature.