Discover something new every day until Christmas!

December 1.: Snowella

In its natural environment, this unicellular Cyanobacteria forms colonies in the shape of a snowflake.
Unfortunatelly, in pure isolated cultures, it loses this capacity and seems unable to form these beautiful colonies again.

The BCCM/ULC collection is the only collection wordwide possessing a representative of this genus.

Check it out in our catalogue (ULC 335).

December 2.: The world's largest MALDI-TOF MS database for filamentous fungi

BCCM/IHEM, in collaboration with Assistance Publique – Hôpitaux de Paris (AP-HP) and Sorbonne University (Paris, France), developed the world's largest database for MALDI-TOF MS identification of filamentous fungi (moulds).
In 2021, it continued to grow with currently more than 2.300 reference spectra, representing over 1.000 fungal species.

Want to give it a try? The database is available after free registration through an online identification tool: https://msi.happy-dev.fr/

Want some more info? Read the publication of Normand et al. (2021): DOI: 10.1128/JCM.01299-21 / PMID: 34319807

December 3.: Sharing our lab protocols with our users

Christmas is all about sharing! So from now on, we'll be sharing some of our lab protocols with you, starting with those of the BCCM/GeneCorner Plasmid Collection.

If quality controlled test results are as important to you as they are to us, go check out our Knowledge Center to start using our protocols.

December 4.: Sharing is caring, and we care about your biological materials!

Do you want to share your work with other scientists?

Do you want to increase the visibility of your research?

Are you looking for an off-site back-up?

Find out how we can help you with all this, and more!

December 5.: Enjoy the festive feeling of a glass of wine or a good beer

Do you need some active yeast cultures?

Do you need to isolate or characterize your strain?

Do you need to preserve or protect your yeast strain(s)?

BCCM/MUCL is there for you!

http://bccm.belspo.be/pricelists/mucl-pricelist

December 6.: Discover the magical beauty of diatoms

Diatoms form an extremely diverse group of beautiful organisms, and are the most species rich group of algae. Up to a quarter of all photosynthesis on our planet is carried out by diatoms. This automatically means that diatoms are responsible for the production of a large amount of the oxygen we breathe and the fixation of the same amount of carbon dioxide we produce.

Discover more of these magical organisms available at BCCM/DCG in their catalogue

December 7.: A bundle a knowledge from BCCM/ITM for you!

The 4th edition of the Practical Handbook of Microbiology was recently published.

It comprises a chapter on the genus Mycobacterium, free accessible for you!

Discover The genus Mycobacterium

December 8.: Did you hear about the BCCM/LMG Culturomics Platform?

Want to know the microbial diversity present in your sample?

Do you want to discover novel strains to implement in your own production process?

Please do contact Anneleen Wieme (anneleen.wieme@ugent.be) to introduce you to our BCCM/LMG culturomics platform!

The key is flexibility in the search for novelty!

December 9.: Send your wishcards with a special stamp...?

BCCM and Bpost joined efforts to produce a set of beautiful stamps, making the invisible visible...
The collector pages can be ordered @ bpost eShop. (Micro-organismen - 2021 | eShop (bpost.be)
Annick Wilmotte (BCCM/ULC) was interviewed for this occasion: bccm.belspo.be/files/videos/annick_wilmotte.mp4

December 10.: White dreams on Antarctica

Did you know part of the BCCM/ULC patrimony has been collected and isolated directly from Antarctica?

Discover the adventures of Annick Wilmotte and other collaborators in their Blogs:

- MICROBIAN project (https://microbianantarctica.blogspot.com/)

- Antarctic research in the Princess Elisabeth station (https://antarcticabelgium.blogspot.com/search/label/Team%202009)

Find antarctic (and other) strains in the BCCM/ULC catalogue!

December 11.: New BCCM/DCG strains are in the pipeline to be published in the online catalogue

Amongst these new strains is Melosira moniliformis (DCG 1066).

This euryhaline and eurythermal diatom species is rich in EPA and its tendency to form long chains could reduce harvesting costs significantly.

These characteristics indicate a plausible high potential for its use in biotechnology!

December 12.: A BCCM/MUCL publication, fresh from the press

The BCCM/MUCL collection contributes to a dozen of publications per year.

As this year draws to a close, we are pleased to present our latest contribution: “Anchoring the species Rhizophagus intraradices (formerly Glomus intraradices)”l.

doi.org/10.3114/fuse.2021.08.14

December 13.: BCCM/IHEM released assembled genomes of fungal pathogens

BCCM/IHEM released assembled genomes of about 30 strains from Aspergillus, Trichophyton, Blastomyces, etc.

Have a look at the related publications:

December 14.: Microalgae and the circular nutrient economy

We all adore our Christmas meals, but have you ever wondered what happens with all the waste and leftovers that come from food production?

You probably knew already that most of the organic material is digested, producing heat and biogas. But did you know that what remains can also be used for the cultivation of microalgae? This way, we can recycle scraps into high-value biomass!

More info: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2021.133180

December 15.: A treasure box filled with microbiological materials

Preservation of biodiversity is at the base of the activities of the BCCM collections!

We are proud of our patrimony of bacteria, fungi, microalgae & plasmids reaching a total of more than 300,000 microbiological materials.

The magic of these organisms and plasmids has already led to numerous wonderful applications in our daily life and many more are waiting to be discovered!

December 16.: Discover the whole genome sequence (WGS) services at BCCM/LMG.

Did you know that WGS-based data analysis allows us to provide you with accurate species level identification results for your bacteria?

Did you know that WGS and WGS-based data analysis are required by EFSA for the characterization of bacteria intended for use either as products or as production strains?

Did you know that BCCM/LMG is working on extending its WGS services?

More info will become available on the website in 2022!

Interested in the BCCM/LMG WGS services? Please contact Ilse Cleenwerck.

December 17.: Your cell lines and hybridomas deserve a special treatment.

Wether your work is strictly academic or commercial, if you simply want a quality controlled backup or you want to file a patent, BCCM/GeneCorner is the place to be for your cell lines and hybridomas.

Find out how we can help you with all your needs for cryopreservation:

Safe deposit

Patent deposit