Microbiology, Institute of

(Institute of Microbiology of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR [AN SSSR]), a microbiological research establishment.

The Institute of Microbiology of the AN SSSR was created in Moscow in 1934 out of the Microbiology Laboratory of the AN SSSR, which had been organized in Leningrad in 1930.

The principal research problems of the institute include study of the metabolism and developmental physiology of microorganisms in connection with the evolution of their functions; study of the natural distribution, ecology, and taxonomy of microorganisms; investigation of heritable metabolic changes in microorganisms; breeding research; and the microbiological synthesis of enzymes, vitamins, amino acids, and antibiotics. Also among the institute’s major research problems are elucidation of the nature of the biological fixation of molecular nitrogen, the study of the activities of microorganisms in mineral deposits and bodies of water, and application of the vital activities of microorganisms to agriculture and industry.

The microflora of fresh and salt waters and fossil fuels and the role of microorganisms in concentrating a number of chemical elements have been investigated at the Institute of Microbiology. From 1941 to 1945 the institute participated in organizing the industrial production of acetone; lactic, butyric, and citric acids; enzyme preparations; dry bacteriophage; and bacterial fertilizers. In addition, it was involved in solving a number of problems in industrial microbiology.

The institute had 17 departments as of 1973. The works of its members are published primarily in the journals Mikrobiologiia (Microbiology) and Prikladnaia biokhimiia i mikrobiologiia (Applied Biochemistry and Microbiology) and in thematic collections of works published by the institute itself. The institute has a graduate program and accepts doctoral and candidates’ dissertations for defense.