Footnote “e” of the ZKBS on organisms of risk group 2 in the database

The Central Commission for Biological Safety (ZKBS) maintains an online database of organisms that have already been risk-assessed and are intended for use as donors or recipients for genetic engineering. Some database entries for organisms in Risk Group 2 (designated "spp.", plural of "sp.") contain the footnote "e." The abbreviation sp. is used within biological taxonomy as an addition after the genus name for an unspecified species. The footnote "e" indicates that the corresponding genera also contain species and strains that are not considered pathogenic to humans or animals, which have a lower hazard potential and can therefore be assigned to Risk Group 1. For example, a specific strain of a bacterium from the ZKBS organism database, which is classified there in Risk Group 2, may have proven safe and non-pathogenic when used in the laboratory or in production facilities over a long period of time . If this strain is to be used as a donor or recipient organism, the genetic engineering work must initially be assigned to safety level 2. Only when the ZKBS has classified this strain in risk group 1 (based on data already known or submitted for safe use ) can the genetic engineering work be carried out at safety level 1 (as in the case of Enterobacter sp. SA187, for example).