News

The hORFv8.1 database consists of a sequence-verified, clonal collection of human Open Reading Frames (ORFs), presented as Gateway Entry vectors (backbone: pDONR223).  All clones come without a termination codon, allowing the addition of C-terminal tags or markers.

BCCM/LMBP provides this large collection as individual plasmids, and offers a range of compatible Gateway Destination vectors, aiming to satisfy your imagination for your experimental set-ups.

See the BCCM/LMBP ORFeome v8.1 entry plasmids catalogue here.

This collection from the Belgian Nuclear Research Centre (SCK.CEN) provides historical reference plasmids for various incompatibility families. The collection also includes a set of bacterial host strains meant for cloning and in vitro packaging of and/or working with phages.

Since many years, the BCCM consortium is actively involved in European and international associations of culture collections such as the European Culture Collections' Organisation (ECCO) and the World Federation of Culture Collections (WFCC).

Prof. Jody Haig's research group (IRC, VIB, Ghent, Belgium) developed a highly efficient Gateway- and recombinase-mediated cassette exchange (RMCE)-compatible system to target conditional and/or inducible constructs to the ROSA26 locus of F1 hybrid Bl6/129 ESCs, called G4 ROSALUC ES cells.
This technology allows researchers to easily create conditional and/or inducible ROSA26 alleles in a time/cost efficient manner.

Dr Julia Kleinteich has joined in November 2013 the team of BCCM/ULC to investigate the presence of cyanotoxins and secondary metabolites in the polar cyanobacterial strains of the public collection. She has obtained a post-doc fellowship for 2 years granted by the University of Liège thanks to the Federal subsidies for research and the FP7 people Marie Curie COFUND.

Lactarius stubbei Wisitrassameewong & Verbeken was named in honour of Dirk Stubbe, the assistant curator of BCCM/IHEM. He discovered this new species during a biological expedition in a rainforest reserve in Malaysia. The collected specimens were studied and described by mycologists of the Mycology Research Group of the Ghent University. The mushroom has a reddish brown cap, distant gills and a brownish pink stipe. It has a sweet smell and when damaged, it exudes a white latex that turns yellow.

The TDR bank is by far the most extensive and well-characterized collection of TB strains anywhere in the world today. We are proud that this resource has been entrusted to us.
Dr Leen Rigouts, manager of the BCCM/ITM public collection of mycobacterial strains

Only 2 Europeans receive this distinction

Since 2005, the multi-site quality management system of BCCM is certified as meeting the requirements of the international ISO 9001 standard. In May 2013, BCCM received the annual audit of the external certification body (SGS) and succeeded in the maintenance of the certification ISO 9001 covering the eight entities of the consortium (see the BCCM certificate). This certification attests the effectiveness of the quality management system in place and the spirit of continuous improvement of BCCM.