| ATCC | American Type Culture Collection, Manassas, VA, USA |
| BTCC | Bulgarian Type Culture Collection, Sofia, Bulgaria |
| CCM | Czech Collection of Microorganisms, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic |
| CCUG | Culture Collection University of Göteborg, Department of Clinical Bacteriology, Göteborg, Sweden |
| CDC | Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, United States Department of Health and Human Services, Atlanta, Georgia, USA |
| CIP | Collection de l'Institut Pasteur, Paris, France |
| CNCM | Collection Nationale de Cultures de Microorganismes, Institut Pasteur, Paris, France |
| CNCTC | Czech National Collection of Type Cultures, National Institute of Public Health, Prague, Czech Republic |
| DSM | now DSMZ |
| DSMZ | Deutsche Sammlung von Mikroorganismen und Zellkulturen GmbH, Braunschweig, Germany |
| ECCO | European Culture Collections´ Organization |
| FAO | Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations |
| HIM | Hygiene Institut, Marburg, Germany |
| IAM (IAMCC) | Institute of Applied Microbiology Culture Collection, University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan; collection transferred to JCM |
| IBPM | Institute of Biochemistry and Physiology of Microorganisms, Pushchino, Russia |
| IEMVT | Institut d'Elevage et de Médecine Vétérinaire des Pays Tropicaux, Maisons-Alfort, France |
| IHE | Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology; see NIPH |
| IID | Laboratory Culture Collection, Institute of Medical Science, University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan |
| IPDH | Institute of Poultry Diseases, Hannover, Germany |
| JCM | Japan Collection of Microorganisms, Institute of Physical and Chemical Research, Saitama, Japan |
| LMG | BCCM/LMG Bacteria Collection, Laboratorium voor Microbiologie, Universiteit Gent, Gent, Belgium |
| NCDO | National Collection of Dairy Organisms; see NCFB |
| NCFB | National Collection of Food Bacteria, Reading, U.K.; formerly NCDO; now incorporated into NCIMB |
| NCIB | National Collection of Industrial Bacteria, Aberdeen, Scotland, UK; now NCIMB |
| NCIMB | National Collection of Industrial, Marine and Food Bacteria Ltd., Aberdeen, Scotland, UK |
| NCMB | National Collection of Marine Bacteria, Aberdeen, Scotland, UK; now NCIMB |
| NCTC | National Collection of Type Cultures, London, UK |
| NIAH | National Institute of Animal Health, Ibaraki, Japan |
| NIPH | National Institute of Public Health, Prague, Czech Republic; formerly IHE |
| RIMD | Research Institute for Microbial Diseases, Osaka University, Osaka, Japan |
| SLCC | Special Listeria Culture Collection, Institute of Hygiene and Microbiology, University of Würzburg, Germany |
| TMC | Trudeau Mycobacterial Culture Collection, Trudeau Institute, Saranac Lake, NY, USA |
| VFB | University of Veterinary Science, Brno, Czech Republic |
| WFCC | World Federation for Culture Collections |
| VPI | Anaerobe Culture Collection, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA, USA |
| WHO | World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland |