Holding

• Recombinant plasmids that can be used as valuable tools for applied and fundamental molecular biological, immunological and biomedical research.

   

All publicly available plasmids are described in full molecular detail and are submitted to quality control tests (purity, viability and authenticity (restriction site analysis))

• A selection of recommended or required bacterial host strains.
  
  
• DNA libraries, from fungal to human origin. The DNA libraries are oligo(dT) and/or random hexamer primed, and most often cloned in an oriented way in an expression cassette.
  

Services

• Public Deposit
  
  
• Safe Deposit
  
  
• Patent Deposit
  
  
• Storage of third party’s biological material
  
  
• Distribution of biological material from the public, safe deposit or patent deposit collection
  
  
• Distribution of TRC 1/1.5 human and mouse shRNA libraries
  
  
• Plasmid profile analysis
  
  
• ProfileThoseSugars - Analysis of protein-linked glycans on DNA sequencing equipment
  
  

All assignments, with exception of deposits of microbial resources for public access, are treated strictly confidential.

 

• Public deposit

  BCCM/LMBP accepts for public deposit:

  • plasmids
    
    
  • bacterial host strains
    
    
  • DNA libraries

  Before sending material, it is advisable to contact BCCM/LMBP to make sure that the material to be deposited is within its scope and technical capabilities and to be informed of the necessary form and quantity of the material.

  Upon public deposit of plasmids, the depositor must complete the Accession Form F103.

  Upon public deposit of bacterial host strains, the depositor must complete the Accession Form F104.

  Upon public deposit of DNA libraries, please contact BCCM/LMBP.

  Deposits for public access are without costs for the depositor.

• Safe deposit

  BCCM/LMBP accepts for safe deposit:

  • any kind of natural or recombinant plasmid or genetic material, either in a purified form or within a host, not exceeding risk class 2
    
    
  • natural or genetically modified animal cell lines, including human cell lines and hybridomas, not exceeding risk class 2

  Before sending material, it is advisable to contact BCCM/LMBP to make sure that the material to be deposited is within its scope and technical capabilities and to be informed of the necessary form and quantity of the material.

  Upon safe deposit of plasmids, the depositor must complete the contract F405.
  
  Upon safe deposit of cell lines and hybridomas, the depositor must complete the contract F073.
  
  Upon safe deposit of other resources, please contact BCCM/LMBP.

  For extension of safe deposit contracts for a predefined period, the depositor will be contacted by BCCM/LMBP.
  For termination of safe deposit contracts for an undefined period, the depositor must complete the form F408.

  For related costs see pricelist.

• Patent deposit

  BCCM/LMBP accepts for patent deposit:

  • any kind of natural or recombinant plasmid or genetic material, either in a purified form or within a host, not exceeding risk class 2
    
    
  • natural or genetically modified animal cell lines, including human cell lines and hybridomas, not exceeding risk class 2

  Before sending material, it is advisable to contact BCCM/LMBP to make sure that the material to be deposited is within its scope and technical capabilities and to be informed of the necessary form and quantity of the material.

  Upon patent deposit, the depositor must complete the international Accession Form BCCM/LMBP/BP/1 as well as the bilateral contract Form BCCM/LMBP/DBT1.

  Once BCCM/LMBP has accepted the material and confirmed its viability and purity, it will send to the depositor or to the party designated on form BP/1, the completed international forms BCCM/LMBP/BP/4 (receipt of an original deposit) and BCCM/LMBP/BP/9 (viability statement). These documents constitute the proofs of the deposit.

  See also the detailed Manual for the deposit of Biological Material for Patent Purposes under the Budapest Treaty.

  For related costs see pricelist.

• Storage of third party’s biological material

  BCCM/LMBP accepts for storage of third party’s biological material:

• any kind of biological material which can be stored at 4°C, -20°C, -80°C or in liquid nitrogen.

Before sending material, it is advisable to contact BCCM/LMBP to make sure that the material to be deposited is within its scope and technical capabilities and to be informed of the necessary form and quantity of the material.

Upon storage, the depositor must complete the contract F411 with annex F412.

For extension of storage contracts for a predefined period, the depositor will be contacted by BCCM/LMBP.
For termination of storage contracts for an undefined period, the depositor must complete the form F413.

For related costs see pricelist.

• Distribution of biological material from the public, safe deposit or patent deposit collection

  Resources of the public collection are accessible to the scientific community under the conditions of the BCCM Material Transfer Agreement (MTA), if necessary amended with additional conditions possibly already attached to the biological material.
  For more information on ordering microbial resources click here.
  Consult the BCCM/LMBP catalogues to search the resources you require.

  Resources of the safe deposit collection are not catalogued and are only available to the depositor or to third parties with the written authorization of the depositor.
  For related costs see pricelist.

  The distribution of samples of biological material deposited under the Budapest Treaty for patent purposes depends on the authorization by the depositor or an entitled Industrial Property Office. Patent deposits are not catalogued.
  For related costs see pricelist.

Accession, control, preservation, storage and supply of plasmids and bacterial hosts and related information in the frame of public deposits, research deposits, safe deposits and patent deposits are ISO 9001:2008 certified.

 

• Distribution of TRC 1/1.5 human and mouse shRNA libraries

  Following the 2009-2010 call of the Hercules Foundation for medium-scale research infrastructure¹, BCCM/LMBP became a partner in a collaboration of scientists of the Ghent University and the VIB who are working in the domain of life sciences and have already extensive experience with the use of RNA interference (RNAi).

  RNAi has become an essential tool for functional genomics. It permits the selective knock-down of specific proteins in cells to assess their functional role. RNAi serves to discover proteins involved in a particular cell function or signal transduction pathway. It is increasingly used to discover and validate new targets and biomarkers, and to elucidate disease mechanisms. Moreover, it is being developed for in vivo experimental use and even for therapeutic use.

  Via BCCM/LMBP all researchers of the Ghent University and VIB gain easy and unlimited access to individual bacterial glycerol stocks of the genome-wide SIGMA MISSION TRC1 human and mouse libraries, consisting of over 176.000 pre-cloned shRNA vectors targeting more than 16.000 human and 15.950 mouse genes.

  More info: bccm.lmbp@dmbr.UGent.be

  

  Template structure of each shRNAi clone

  Ordering procedure

  • for VIB researchers: consult the VIB intranet under the topics 'VIB Technologies > 3. Protein analysis > 9. Human and mouse gene shRNA plasmids'

  • for DMBR researchers: consult the DMBR intranet under the topics 'Research > Core Facilities > BCCM Plasmid Collection', after logging in

  • for Ghent University researchers: click here

  ¹ Set up in 2007 by the Flemish Government as a structural funding instrument for investments in research infrastructure.
  
  

• Plasmid profile analysis

  By default, this customized contract service allows the analysis of non-pathogenic, bacterial strains for the presence of natural, middle- and high-copy number plasmids of max. 20.000 bp by agarose gel electrophoresis of non-digested plasmid DNA.

  Before sending material, it is advisable to contact BCCM/LMBP to make sure that the material to be analysed is within its scope and technical capabilities, to discuss extra requirements (e.g. low copy plasmid profile, large plasmids profile, …) and to be informed of the price offer.
  
  

• ProfileThoseSugars - Analysis of protein-linked glycans on DNA sequencing equipment

  Carbohydrates, like DNA and proteins, can be separated electrophoretically on polyacrylamide gels. To allow detection, and in some cases to add charge, the oligosaccharides are fluorescently labelled. Classical FACE (fluorophore assisted carbohydrate electrophoresis) allows separation and detection of oligosaccharides, though with relatively low sensitivity and poor resolving power. A major breakthrough came when slab gel DNA-sequencing equipment was successfully used for the profiling and analysis of oligosaccharides. When an appropriate fluorescent dye is used, usually APTS, 8-aminopyrene-1,3,6-trisulfonic acid, DSA-FACE (DNA–Sequencer Aided FACE) allows separation with high resolution and sensitivity. Importantly, many isomeric and isobaric structures can be separated. Moreover, the high sensitivity permits the use of minute amounts of glycoproteins for the analysis of all the attached glycans. Now that this technique is available, high throughput analysis of biological samples becomes possible, and its use in glycodiagnosis is emerging.

  Customized contract analytical services (specializing in miniaturized comparative analysis of larger series of samples) built on this technology and performed by the developers, are available now through the ProfileThoseSugars service at BCCM/LMBP.

  For related costs see price scheme.

  The protocol for the ProfileThoseSugars service on the Applied Biosystems gel-based or capillary array-based DNA sequencers, has been published in detail in Nature Protocols:

  W. Laroy, R. Contreras and N. Callewaert, 2006. Glycome mapping on DNA sequencing equipment. Nature Protocols, Vol.1, No.1, 397-405.

  In concert with Prof. Dr N. Callewaert and his team, we will be happy to discuss your glycoanalysis requirements and advise you on the most appropriate strategies and the options suitable for your specific research needs.

  Before sending samples and the accompanying order form, please contact BCCM/LMBP to sign a services agreement.

Scientific context

• Collaboration with the host laboratory

  BCCM/LMBP does not perform autonomous scientific research. However, the BCCM/LMBP activities are continuously underpinned by the research activities of the host laboratory (Department of Biomedical Molecular Biology (Ghent University) / Department for Molecular Biomedical Research (DMBR; VIB)), focusing on fundamental and biotechnological research in the fields of inflammation, immunity and cancer.

• Publications of the host laboratory

Organisation chart

Further information & contact