Overview of all services. For detailed description, see
the individual collections
All assignments, with the exception of deposits of microbial resources for public
access are treated strictly confidential.
Distribution of biological material from the public, safe deposit or patent deposit collection
The well-documented and authenticated strains
of bacteria, filamentous and yeasts fungi (including the most important test
and control strains), plasmids and DNA libraries are publicly available and readily deliverable
by BCCM on a world-wide basis.
Resources from the safe deposit and patent deposit collection
can be released under more stringent conditions.
For more information on ordering microbial resources from the public, safe deposit or patent deposit collection
click here.
Distribution of TRC 1/1.5 human and mouse shRNA libraries
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 TRC1/1.5 human and mouse libraries, consisting of over 176.000 pre-cloned shRNA vectors
targeting more than 16.000 human and 15.950 mouse genes.
For more information click here
Public, safe and patent deposits
The BCCM provides its customers with three
complementary types of deposit:
- public deposits makes up the bulk of the BCCM's holdings.
They can be considered as a service from the depositor to the scientific
community, since these deposits are catalogued and publicly available for
further study. The depositor, in return, benefits from an economical and
practical means of distributing his material and is entitled to receive
a free sample of one of the BCCM's strains;
- safe deposits in a supplementary professional environment
have proved to be a very cost-effective means of insuring proprietary cultures
(or plasmids) of particular importance. Industry, in particular, is increasingly
keen to insure against, for example, the loss or irreversible mutation of
production strains. As full confidentiality is ensured, safe-deposited material
is neither catalogued nor distributed to third parties;
- patent deposits of biological material are a compulsory
part of the patent process. Within the framework of internationally prevailing
legislation (e.g. the
Budapest Treaty and European Directives), and under the auspices of
the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), the BCCM has International
Depository Authority (IDA) status. The BCCM is one of the 36 IDAs around
the world and can accept deposits of:
- bacteria
- filamentous fungi
- yeast fungi
- human and animal cell lines including hybridomas
- genetic material in a purified form or within a host.
Rigorous security and confidentiality measures are in place and samples are
only distributed within the strict restraints of the Budapest Treaty.
Storage of third party’s biological material
The 'Storage of third party’s biological material' service offers the possibility
to keep your most valuable resources safeguarded in a
(supplementary), professional environment. The material will
be stored without cultivation or manipulation, without
quality control tests and without distribution, except to
the depositor.
Information provision
BCCM helps to locate biological resources with client-specified functional
and/or taxonomical characteristics.
Strain preservation service
The BCCM collections can prepare a batch of ampoules
with freeze-dried cells of your culture. They can also assist you in selecting the optimum preservation methods
for specific strains and can recommend suitable cryoprotectants and appropriate cooling or
thawing rates for cryopreserved material.
Identification, Characterization and Molecular Typing
BCCM shares and offers its know-how on a customised and confidential
basis. Academics as well as industry can make use of this service for diverse
applications such as
- identification of strains important for industry, health, environment
- identification of product contaminants
- confirmation of culture authenticity
- characterization of strains for compliance with
legislation, biosafety files, patent filing
- characterization of strains for description of new
species
- genomic typing at the strain level for monitoring
process strains, HACCP, patent claims, quality control programmes
- plasmid profile analysis of non-pathogenic, bacterial strains
- high-throughput N-glycan analysis of biological samples for use in glycodiagnosis
- ...
A broad range of conventional as well as state of the art molecular techniques
are available to this end. For more details see the individual BCCM collections
Screening
Some BCCM collections offer exclusive screening
of unique strains for potential new products (e.g. enzymes, antibiotics). See
the individual collections for more details.
Material resistance testing
See BCCM/MUCL for more details on testing of wood,
paints, textiles and polymers, etc.
Microbiological auditing
Microbiological audits of living areas, work places,
product environments etc are conducted by BCCM/IHEM and BCCM/MUCL.
Electron microscopy
Requests for electron
microscopic study of yeasts and fungal cultures can be submitted at BCCM/MUCL.
Contract research and training
Sharing BCCM's know-how on a customised and confidential basis in the frame
of more extended research-contracts or training programmes - both for groups
and individuals - is also possible.
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BCCM Services