Collection of Environmental and Laboratory Strains of University of Tartu  was founded in 1995.  Since year 2008 collection is registred at WFCC-MIRCEN World Data Centre for Microorganisms:

ACRONYM           CELMS
REGISTRATION NUMBER  926

Currently collection holds over 2000 cultures of microorganisms.

The collection is financed by national programme and by Tartu University.

Majority of strains have been isolated from polluted areas with strong oil shale mining and chemical industry impact. Since year 2008 bacterial isolates from different regions of the Baltic Sea have been added to the collection. Main tasks of the collection are extension of collection with new strains and type cultures, characterization of strains and distribution of microorganisms for purpose of research and education. Our main research activities are related to use molecular methods for characterization of microbial strains and diversity of functional genes.