Australian Human Microbiome Biobank (AHMB)

Centre for Microbiome Research, Queensland University of Technology

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Three scientists with their hands inside a scientific chamber stand in a line with a soft smile to the camera

The Australian Human Microbiome Biobank (AHMB) is a purpose-built microbial culture collection and research infrastructure facility housed within the Centre for Microbiome Research at Queensland University of Technology.

Established in 2023 through the Australian Government's Medical Research Future Fund National Critical Research Infrastructure program, AHMB addresses a significant limitation in microbiome research: the inability to cultivate the majority of human-associated microorganisms under standard laboratory conditions.

AHMB's high-throughput cultivation platform supports aerobic, microaerophilic and anaerobic recovery of microbial isolates from the gut, skin, oral and vaginal microbiomes. Isolates are characterised by whole genome sequencing, enabling strain-level taxonomic assignment, antimicrobial resistance profiling and metabolic annotation. Authenticated isolates and fee-for-service cultivation are available to research and industry partners nationally and internationally.

Website
https://ahmb.com.au
Organisation type
  • University Research Centre
Number of research staff
Up to 20 research staff
Address
Translational Research Institute, 37 Kent Street, Woolloongabba, Brisbane 4103

Strengths and capabilities

  • High-throughput anaerobic microbial cultivation
  • Multi-body-site human microbiome biobanking
  • Fee-for-service microbial isolation
  • Spectral flow cytometry cell sorting
  • Whole genome sequencing of microbial isolates
  • Antimicrobial resistance gene profiling
  • Metabolic pathway annotation and comparative genomics
  • Metagenomic analysis of microbial communities
  • Bioinformatic pipeline development for meta-omics

Facilities and major equipment

  • Human microbiome isolate collection (>25,000 strains)
  • High-throughput microbial isolation and cultivation platform
  • Custom-built atmosphere-controlled anaerobic chambers
  • Integrated culture automation systems (colony picking and liquid handling systems)
  • Aerobic, microaerophilic and anaerobic cultivation facility
  • Physical Containment Level 2 (PC2) microbiology laboratory
  • Microbial cryopreservation and biobanking facility
  • Monitored long-term cryogenic storage systems
  • Custom-built Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS)
  • Barcode-enabled sample and isolate tracking
  • DNA extraction workstations
  • Whole genome sequencing infrastructure (Illumina and Oxford Nanopore)
  • Bioinformatics computing cluster

Lead researchers

  • Prof Gene Tyson: Internationally recognised expert in the development and application of meta-omic and bioinformatic approaches to understand microbial communities in clinical and environmental systems.
  • A/Prof. Simon McIlroy: Microbial ecologist specialising in the development and application of methods for the visualisation and characterisation of microorganisms within their natural environment
  • Dr. James Volmer: Microbiologist with expertise in anaerobic cultivation and development of high-throughput isolation methods for the study of novel bacteria and archaea from host-associated microbiomes
  • Charlotte Vivian: AHMB Coordinator

Other centre in Queensland

Key science sectors

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