Risk Group One (RG-1)
Risk Group One (RG-1) agents are usually not placed on a list but include all microorganisms that do not pose a health risk to healthy adult humans. It must not be assumed that an organism not listed as a RG 2, 3, or 4 agent is an RG-1 agent; emerging or unknown organisms should be treated as biohazardous until research proves otherwise. Examples of agents in RG-1 are: Bacillus subtilus, infectious canine hepatitis viruses; influenza reference strains A/PR/8/34, A/WS/33, Escherichia coli K12, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, and other agents listen in Appendix C-II of the NIH Guidelines for Research Involving Recombinant DNA Molecules; and other vectors such as Baculovirus.
E. coli strains used for cloning and gene expression are typically RG1. Use of strains derived from strain K12 is exempt from IBC approval but must still be registered with the IBC. Other strains of E. coli not derived from K12 are likely RG1 but are not exempt from approval. Is my strain derived from K12?
Risk Group Two (RG-2)
RG-2 agents are of moderate potential hazard to healthy adult humans and the environment. Such agents may produce disease of varying degrees of severity from accidental inoculation, injection, or other means of cutaneous penetration but can usually be adequately and safely contained by ordinary laboratory techniques. Some agents may cause disease by contact or respiratory routes, but they are self-limiting and do not cause a serious illness, such as the cause of the common cold, the rhinoviruses. The following organisms have been identified as RG-2 agents:
Bacteria
Acinetobacter baumannii
Actinobacillus spp
Actinomyces pyogenes
Aeromonas hydrophila
Amycolata autotrophica
Archanobacterium haemolyticum
Bacteroides spp.
Borrelia recurrentis
Burkholderia (except those in RG-3)
Campylobacter coli
Clostridium chauvoei
Corynebacterium diphtheriaDermatophilus congolensis
Edwardsiella tarda
Erysipelothrix rhusiopathiae
Escherichia coli
Haemophilus ducreyi
Helicobacter pylori
Klebsiella spp.
Leptospira interrogans
Listeria spp.
Moraxella spp.
Mycobacterium spp.
Nocardia asteroidsPasteurella spp.
Plesiomonas shigelloides
Proteus spp.
Salmonella spp.
Sphaerophorus necrophorus
Staphylococcus aureus
Streptobacillus moniliformis
Streptococcus spp
Treponema pallidum
Vibrio cholera
Yersinia enterocolitica
Fungal Agents
Blastomyces dermatitidis
Cladosproium bantianum
Cryptococcus neoformans
Epidermophyton spp. Exophiala dermatitidis
Fonsecaea pedrosoi
Microsporum spp.
Ochroconis gallopavumParacoccidiodes brasilensis
Penicillium marneffei
Sporothrix schenckii
Trichophyton spp.
LOW RISK AGENTS
In addition to the examples listed above, the following low-risk oncogenic viruses have been identified as RG-1 agents:
Adenvirus 7-Simian virus 40 (Ad7-SV40)
Avian Leucosis virus
Bovine leukemia virus
Bovine papilloma virus
Chick-embryo-lethan orphan (CELO) virus
Dog sarcoma virus
Guinea pig herpes virus
Lucke (frog) virus
Hamster leukemia virus
Marek’s disease virus
Mason-Pfizer monkey virus
Mouse mammary tumor virus
Murine leukemia virus
Murine sarcoma virus Polyoma virus
Rat leukemia virus
Rous sarcoma virus
Shope vibroma virus
Shope papilloma virus
Simian virus 40 (SV-40)